wood treatment

[bjosephd]

Sorry for posting twice today!

Got pine hive parts arriving today.

Should probably treat or paint.

I don't want to paint or gloss... just want a good 'colourless' wood stain/protection.

Does it really matter what it is? Does it need to be hippy bee safe magic wood stain free of all sorts of chemicals etc etc...?

Like this:
http://www.lifetimewoodtreatment.co.uk/product/beehive_wood_treatment.html

Or can I just go to B&Q and get a good weatherproof wood stain and not worry about it. Has anyone ever honestly damaged their bees inside a box by treating the outside of the box with anything?

Or is it always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to bees and their sheep like ways to find one thousand and one different ways to die!

 

[bingevader]

Bees wax and linseed oil?

 

[bjosephd]

Bees wax and linseed oil?

Indeed... so I've heard... does it not all get a bit icky and sticky? Maybe just linseed? Maybe I'll try an experiment on some other wood. What beeswax to linseed ration?

 

[dexter's shed]

I buy fence paint from any shop, cost's around £5 for 5ltrs, does just what it say's on the tin (plastic bucket)

 

[RogueDrone]

use what ever you want in reason as you are painting the outside, wood stains are fine. "Ronseal Quick Dry" here, when i do get to do them. even painted with bees in box.

Colin

 

[pargyle]

You can use anything ... just don't paint the insides .. if you use solvent based stain then you need to leave it for enough time for all the VOC's to evaporate - and some of them can be slow release VOC's so it could take up to a week or more for them all to go.

Water based stains have less longevity but without VOC's they are a bit safer for the bees and you don't have to leave it as long before use.

I 'varnish' the inside of all my hives with propolis dissolved in methylated spirits .. gives them a bit of a head start and it leaves a lovely 'bee' smell inside the hive, in addition it's an excellent preservative ...

 

[Finman]

There are plenty of different paint colors, which are nice to look.

Paints duty is to close dry splitting of wood and protect from rainwater.
Then in Winter wood is wet because bees respiration water condensates to cold walls.

Yes. It is a big mater, how you paint the pine wood.

If you put something wrong onto wood, you cannot paint it any more with different type paint.

In beehives Paint should be such that it allows moisture to go out from wood. ( respire).

 

[bjosephd]

Thanks people...

Yep, don't paint the inside that was always a definite!

What about the top and bottom edges where the BBs and supers touch/connect? I imagine worth treating those bits as that's where water is liable to sit.

I think I'll try and find a water based stain. Not too worried about making my hives last forever... a good few years is fine for now.

 

[pargyle]

I found some water based outdoor furniture paint in my local Aldi .... £7.99 for 2.5 litres - water based and did a nice job on my poly hive although it was intended for timber. Looks a bit like Ronseal Shades .. but a fraction of the price. Several colours but if you are not fussy there may be some left in the bargain bins at even less than £7.99 !!

 

[psafloyd]

I've used the Cuprinol Shades stuff to good effect. Long and hard wearing on those bits of wood that require weatherproofing.

Sorry for posting twice today!

Got pine hive parts arriving today.

Should probably treat or paint.

I don't want to paint or gloss... just want a good 'colourless' wood stain/protection.

Does it really matter what it is? Does it need to be hippy bee safe magic wood stain free of all sorts of chemicals etc etc...?

Like this:
http://www.lifetimewoodtreatment.co.uk/product/beehive_wood_treatment.html

Or can I just go to B&Q and get a good weatherproof wood stain and not worry about it. Has anyone ever honestly damaged their bees inside a box by treating the outside of the box with anything?

Or is it always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to bees and their sheep like ways to find one thousand and one different ways to die!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

unless it specifically states it's packed with insecticides I think any fence paint/garden stain will do, as others have said it's only the outside and edges you do - all the hives I tended out in Africa were treated with good old creosote, bees didn't seem to mind - most suppliers gave the option of having them delivered creosoted for a couple of rand extra per box.

 

[bjosephd]

Goddam it! Hive arrives today, all in pieces and in need of treatment and drying etc... and guess what happens...

After a few weeks of absolute silence and inactivity around my shoddy 'bait' boxes (old wine boxes), who turns up, but a load of scouts!

If only they were buzzing around my nice new built and treated hive! (which is currently unbuilt and untreated!)

Beekeeping is nothing but lessons and 'shoulda done it yesterdays' !

jenkinsbrynmair - ooh Africa... were you working with AHBs? Scary! Or were you able to keep the AMs calm and mellow and the queens going out to have an affair with 'a bit of rough'... everyone likes a bad drone boy huh!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

jenkinsbrynmair - ooh Africa... were you working with AHBs? Scary!

Don't believe all the hype churned out by the great unlearnt - African honeybees aren't as bad as you think - tended more aggressive hives over here this season!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hope that last reply wasn't too confrontational for you don't want the forum trolls up in arms again

 

[user 6228]

the propolis waterproofs and vapour proofs the inside.. the outside waterproofing is is important thermally as you will lose half the insulation value of the wood if it gets soaked as the insulation value is inversely linked to the water content.

 

[bjosephd]

Hope that last reply wasn't too confrontational for you don't want the forum trolls up in arms again

haha... not at all... I can cope.

Interesting that African Honey Bees not as grumpy as the stories will have you believe. Are they highly productive and wotnot? I wonder if the hybridisation once they escaped into the States got them more nasty than they ever were in the first place.

 

[8ace]

External yacht varnish of the flexible type like a spar varnish I have used. Linseed oil offers little protection against weathering but is great for cedar hives pine ones will really need to be weather proofed. I have just made some hives out of 9" x1" and they look great I'll post some picsm later

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

haha... not at all... I can cope.

Interesting that African Honey Bees not as grumpy as the stories will have you believe. Are they highly productive and wotnot? I wonder if the hybridisation once they escaped into the States got them more nasty than they ever were in the first place.

AM adansonii are more defensive than our bees rather than more agressive, there can also be a big difference in temperament from one region to another. the ones in Lesotho were really laid back - but it was said that the ones further up the mountains were agressive - but TBH at one point I was pretty high up above the Qteng gorge and they too seemed fine. Not as productive as our bees though but with three harvest seasons between September and April with an average of one Langstroth super per harvest, not too bad for very little effort.
The extremely agressive (allegedly) Africanised honeybee in the USA was due to an inadvertent crossing of African honeybees with local South American bees

 

[bjosephd]

Interesting stuff JBM.

"The queens of Africanized bees produce more vigorous and frequent bouts of piping." (says wiki)

Holy moly... just been listening to my hive and there are at least two queens in there piping the crap outta life! Sounds pretty vigorous to me! But I'm in Somerset... so maybe they've just been on the ciders.

Wish I could truly know what's gonna go down in there over the next few days. Battle royal me thinks.

And on a thread note... went to the shop today and there were SO many different sorts of wood stains and treatments and a multitude of colours that I just came home. All to much to cope with... serious decision anxiety - seriously, how many shades of brown do you need, and that's before the greys and 'forest' greens. Just give me something clear and water based dammit!

 

[BeeJayBee]

Interesting that African Honey Bees not as grumpy as the stories will have you believe. Are they highly productive and wotnot?

Brother Adam sourced some of his bees from Kenya, at least I think it was Kenya. Look for the youtube of The Monk and the Honey Bee.