Varnishing Hives

[Nick W]

Picked up my hives on Tuesday (thanks Hivemaker) and have varnished the outside so far.

Quick question, I realise I should not varnish the inside, what about the bee entrance? Can I varnish around the entrance and just on the wood inside it?

And should I varnish the parts where the brood and supers meet each other. The flat bit on the bottom or is that not necessary?

Cheers

Nick

 

[Rosti]

several Cuprinol products are pesticide free, certainly the 'clear' wood preserver is, but they also have a range of coloured fence preservers that are as well. A lot of people use it all over. mOnly treat the outside for weather proofing purposes, all internal surafces includes edge grains on entrances leave un-treated. (use the search for previous threads, certain there is a picture of the can somewhere on this site). R

 

[wilderness]

I've made some enquiries about wood treatment products from Barrettine. They sent me a safety data sheet for the Clear product and the only chemical in it apart from the spirit base is Propiconazole. This chemical is also in Cuprinol Clear.

In my local hardware shop Barrettine is half the price of Cuprinol

 

[Brosville]

"only?"........... "Propiconazole is a triazole fungicide used agriculturally on grasses grown for seed, mushrooms, corn, wild rice, peanuts, almonds, sorghum, oats, pecans, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and prunes"

add that to the fact that the team at Penn State have found that certain fungicides can act to make neonicotinoids a thousand times more powerful.......

I'll be sticking to food-grade boiled linseed and beeswax........

 

[Hivemaker.]

I'll be sticking to food-grade boiled linseed and beeswax........

I will be sticking with nothing.

 

[Brosville]

I would too if I built top-quality cedar hives..........

 

[Onge]

When I used cedar hives I used nothing.

 

[Haughton Honey]

When I used cedar hives I used nothing.

Does that include your pine/softwood bits like crown boards and perhaps floors?

I know many people simply yacht varnish the non-cedar items.....

 

[Onge]

Crown boards...no there well protected under the roof.

Floors were cedar omf.

As I said if cedar I used nothing. I use poly now

 

[roche]

Every time I see this thread I mis-read it as vannishing hives...Drives me crazy.

 

[MrB]

Every time I see this thread I mis-read it as vannishing hives...Drives me crazy.

Brilliant!!! i thought it was just me

 

[RoseCottage]

Me too you are not alone...