Painting a bee hive

[Bee Boys]

Why do people not paint the internals of a bee hive?
Is there a problem with the paintand bees?
Thank you in advance.

 

[drex]

Why would you want to?
The bees coat it with propolis and its anti microbial properties

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

bees sort out the inside themselves - they produce a wonderful animicrobial varnish called propolis.
That's why people who religiously 'spring clean' their hives each year - scrubbing and scorching the interior. Are sadly lacking in wit and wisdom, they are doing more damage than good.

 

[Bee Boys]

I was planing to make my own supers, but we only have treated wood and I was worried that the treatment in the wood would be a problem for the bees.

 

[madasafish]

Bees have survived in tyres, old oil drums and sooty chimneys...

(And in days past, creosoted hives -inside and out)

 

[Bee Boys]

Thank you Madasafish.

 

[For want of a better word]

Bees have survived in tyres, old oil drums and sooty chimneys...

(And in days past, creosoted hives -inside and out)

Creosote honey was very popular in my Grandfather's days in Croydon Surrey... now we have Manuka!!!!!!!!

Chons da

 

[its.only.money]

That's why people who religiously 'spring clean' their hives each year - scrubbing and scorching the interior. Are sadly lacking in wit and wisdom, they are doing more damage than good.

Possibly, however not swapping some brood boxes this year has caused me hassles with propolis sticking everything and particularly the runners making sliding frames along a right pain in the rear.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

 

[bobba]

I make my own shanty hives from ply and coat them inside and out with epoxy resin.

I made some boxes last year that were not coated or used on a hive. Unfortunately they went moldy over winter in my shed. But all the coated ones were as good as new.

Although the mold problem I encountered could probably also be fixed by other means.

 

[Bee Boys]

Hello bobba,
Whot kind of plywood did you us?
We have considered making bee hives out on plywood, but the plywood on other peoples hives do not seam to last.
How lang do they last?
Thank you,

 

[pargyle]

Hello bobba,
Whot kind of plywood did you us?
We have considered making bee hives out on plywood, but the plywood on other peoples hives do not seam to last.
How lang do they last?
Thank you,

Unless you use marine ply (which is heavy and very expensive) not long enough. Even with sealing the cut edges any ply other than marine grade will delaminate in a relatively short time.

 

[Bee Boys]

Thank your pargyle,
I did think marine ply was the best plywood to use, and I agree it is Very expensive.

 

[bobba]

I use Wickes Non Structural Hardwood Plywood:

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Non-Structural-Hardwood-Plywood---18mm-x-1220mm-x-2440mm/p/110037

And use this for the side bars:

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Whitewood-PSE-Timber---44-x-94-x-2400-mm-Pack-of-3/p/107048

A pack of 3 makes 45 bars.

I do not use marine ply as it does not stand up well to sun light exposure. There are a lot of misconceptions about marine ply

Water proofing can easily be achieved with the right coating.

The boxes are heavy compared to cedar, but can be produced very cheap.

I am only in my 2nd year of keeping bees so cannot vouch for how long they will last. However, I did put an unpainted brood box into service last year and it is still in good shape, no sign of delaminating – yet.

The coated ones from last year still look as good as the day they were made.

If you are interested in making hives but lack wood working experience, like I did, then I recommend starting out with some pine and ply.

2 tips if you plan to use ply, firstly do not get them to cut it to size in store. They will not cut it accurate enough. So, I get it cut into strips that are a bit wider than I need, then cut them to the exact size at home. And most 18mm ply is actually 17mm.

Now I am actually pretty good at making boxes I will be looking to upgrade to cedar if I can source some at a reasonable price.

I cannot offer much advice about looking after bees, I will leave that to the pros, but if there is anything you want to know about making ply hives, just ping me a PM.

 

[Bee Boys]

Thank you bobba, how many brood boxes do you get from one sheet of ply?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you are interested in making hives but lack wood working experience, like I did, then I recommend starting out with some pine and ply.

I recommend getting on to Maisemores before their sale ends midnight tomorrow, flatpack cedar broods and boxes will last for decades with no treatment whatsoever - cheaper than the hassle of buying heavy ply, constructing then waterproofing the boxes and watch them fall to bits in a few years.
It's a no brainer really
Spent most of last week stripping down all the ply roofs (didn't take much effort, most just fell to bits) I have made over the years and replacing with pine then waterproofing them (if it wasn't for the superb metal roof covers a friend made for me, I'd have skipped the lot and bought some flatpack cedar in the sales)

 

[bobba]

With one sheet cut into strips I can make 6 brood.

But 2 boards will give 13 brood.

Some handy bits for nuc boxes will be left over.

You can squeeze out slightly more if cut a cupple of bits off the end before cutting into strips.

To make most efficient use of ply, I think I once worked out I needed to cut a combo of brood and supers from each sheet.

My last lot came in at £9.59 per brood and £7.85 per super. That price includes the wood, screws, nails, frame runners and resin to coat them.

 

[Bee Boys]

Thank you,
We are about to place an order with maisemore.
And thank you bobba we are thinking of macking brood boxes out of ply and supers out of yorkshire boarding,which is very cheap.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If you can run to it the old style Abelo poly roofs are just the best wooden hive topper.

 

[pargyle]

My last lot came in at £9.59 per brood and £7.85 per super. That price includes the wood, screws, nails, frame runners and resin to coat them.

Compared to £13.75 for a flatpack super and £17.00 for a brood box in the Maisies sale ... but .. you then have to factor in a lot of plywood and pine cutting to size and the fact that a cedar box will outlive ANY sort of plywood box, without painting by at least 20 years and won't warp or delaminate .. and which will weigh about 2/3 of the equivalent ply box ...

I'm a Yorkshireman and you know what they say about us .. short arms and deep pockets ! Even I think it's a no brainer ...buy once buy well.

 

[bobba]

Just the wood for my supers came in at £4.20 per box, I have a friend with 10% off card for wicks. + you are left with useful off cuts for eaks, roofs etc.

Its not cutting the wood that takes the time, I can cut a batch of 44 rails in 2h and about 30m for the ply. Sometimes spend 30m in the store waiting for the cutting service though. The bit that takes the time is screwing them together and painting.

I have currently got a hive with brood+1/2 and 4 supers. I have learnt the hard way that lifting a full or even part full ply super on and off the top of a tall hive is not easy on your own. I feel bad because I sometimes unnecessarily crush bees because the boxes are hard to manage.

I have just ordered myself some £13.75 flatpack supers, so I think that tells you all you need to know...(thanks everyone)

I will still use ply broods + 1/2s and maybe bottom super, but full ply supers are too heavy for me to lift up high and agree ceder is worth the extra for the weight factor alone.

Tbh I was not prepared for the cost of bee keeping and amount of equipment required. My better 1/2 was not fully on board with my new pursuit to begin with and was horrified with the costs involved. So I had to do everything possible to keep costs down. Using ply has given me a cheap way to get started. But now the miss loves bees, so fortunately I am allowed to spend a little more.

My roofs are made from a ply off cut deep eak, with pallet wood over the top, water proofed with a bin bag! Them Yorkshiremen always think they are the experts at being tight, well I cut one bin bag in half to cover 2 hives - beat that. I am not recommending this, but when there are bees in the tree and the budget is spent...

I do plan to upgrade them soon ....to waitrose bags!