Has anybody ever gone through the trouble of preparing the inside of a hive for bees. I'm talking about brand new wood that has never seen a bee. Just would like to give a package of bee the greatest likelihood to stay put.
I'm thinking of giving the interior a light burning and then giving it a light coating of beeswax. Possibly just rubbing a block on it rather than melting down wax and spreading it. Any thoughts?
The bees quickly propolize it once they get established. There really isn't any need. They do the same in a tree. But I cook mine in beeswax and rosin...
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesdipping.htm
The bees like it well enough that they collect it for propolis...
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/RosinWaxAsPropolis.jpg
Michael
Out of all the ways you make bee keeping simpler, like feeding cutting deeps down to mediums and such, your dipping of your hives seems like a really lot of work. Do you find it is worth the effort?
gww
Agreed, it is a lot of time. I don't know about work. But I could probably paint them quicker. Yes, they seem to keep really well and I like the look of them better. The bees love the beeswax rosin mix.