Price of Cedar

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johna

House Bee
Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Messages
361
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Location
South West Scotland
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
20
Had a bit of a shock yesterday,asked for a quote for some thro and thro cedar boards to be told that the price had risen by nearly 25% since July.Despite the financial downturn I don't see how such a price increase can be justified.Almost makes Thormes prices seem reasonable. :mad::mad::mad:
 
It can't be exchange rates for imported cedar as the $/£ rate has improved by about 10% since a peak in May 2010. This should have helped keep prices down.
 
My understanding is that nearly all Red Cedar is used for housebuilding in the States and in Canada. The recession has led to this industry virtually grinding to a halt, so they stopped felling it.

This has led to a 'man made' shortage of the stuff - hence the rise in price.

As the recession eases, house building should pick up and the price should then come down again, eventually.
 
I check around the usual suspects and they couldn't be bothered or wanted £6.50 + vat pm, so called at a proper timber mill near Usk, Monmouthshire and recently picked up 20 metres of sawn 6 x 1(28mm) cedar from my local (3 miles) sawmill, ordered on a friday ready for collection the following weds. 7 off 2.4 mtr and 2 off 2.8 mtr for the princely sum of £25.86 inc vat collected.
 
is that enough timber for 10ish brood box's for £25ish ! good going !
 
This supplier sells british grown Cedar,sawn to planks on site .This is very wet and will need drying for at least 6 to 9 months before use.O.K. if you know someone who can dry(de-humidify) it for you when it would be ready to use in 3 months.The up side is that the price is 1/10 th of the imported Canadian material
 
This supplier sells british grown Cedar,sawn to planks on site .This is very wet and will need drying for at least 6 to 9 months before use.O.K. if you know someone who can dry(de-humidify) it for you when it would be ready to use in 3 months.The up side is that the price is 1/10 th of the imported Canadian material

The trouble with this stuff is that the terminology is very confusing. Can you confirm if what is being sold is red cedar (not cedar at all) or cedar (not suitable for building hives)?
 
The Cedar is Red Cedar and can when dry be used for hive building. It is not Western Red Cedar which is produced in the US of A and Canada.It is just as durable as the Canadian stuff.
 
Western red cedar is also grown and used in this country,huge forrests of it,and can easily be kiln dried in less than 30 days.
 
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