types of wood to use

mcassidy2004 · January 15, 2017, 04:37:07 PM

I am new to beekeeping, i have seen very little information on what types of wood is best for building a hive. I have seen that most hives are constructed from pine, being a relatively inexpensive wood to buy and in the southern USA some are using cypress for its ability to hold up to humidity. I am a hobby woodworker and I have a bunch of trees on my property that i am going to have milled for my use as lumber, I have never seen anyone use cedar as a wood for the hive body, it has great properties for resistance to weather, humidity, insects, etc... I have seen cedar being used as a roofing material, but never as a hive body, I also have birch trees that i am going to have milled.

cao · January 15, 2017, 06:15:46 PM

Welcome

I am of the opinion that the bees don't care what wood you use. I would stay away from treated wood that would be in contact with honey and bees. Most hives are built with pine because it's cheap and relatively lightweight. You can make them as fancy as you want.

mcassidy2004 · January 15, 2017, 06:45:00 PM

would you stay away from cedar? I will be having a bunch of rough cut that i can plane out and build with, im going to build a sauna out of cedar from my property.

divemaster1963 · January 15, 2017, 07:39:29 PM

I use cedar for hives. i use any type of wood I ca get. as long as it is dryed and not green wood. cedar may help with moths and shb,s. have few shb,s in my cedar hive thats in shade than ones in sun. go figure.
use any type wood you can get.

john

BeeMaster2 · January 15, 2017, 08:57:03 PM

I built my first hives from cedar. They hold up real well. The moths don't like them but the SHB do not care about the smell. I lost my first hive to SHB sliming it because the queen had DWV and never mated.
Jim

little john · January 16, 2017, 12:57:52 PM

Over here (UK) where nearly all quality wood is imported these days, genuine Cedar is the wood of choice - but bl##dy expensive. Western Red Cedar (Thuja) is next, followed by Pines of various flavours. For me, seasoned wood is a must - otherwise, the cheaper the better. I particularly like 'free'.

Think twice before cutting down trees - they may be more use to the bees left standing. Of course, a lot depends on what other trees are around you ...
LJ

mcassidy2004 · January 16, 2017, 01:01:05 PM

there are some trees already fallen and some that I need to take down for safety reasons

JConnolly · January 26, 2017, 09:30:01 PM

Cedar is fine. Birch is fine. Free is best.

Since you have wood working equipment, if you ever do have to buy wood, I've found that 2x10 structural lumber is often cheaper than 1x10. Most of what I've made recently has been from 2x. I plane one side flat, then resaw to 7/8' and then plane to 3/4 and end up with nice perfectly flat boards.

Michael Bush · January 31, 2017, 02:09:28 PM

For boxes, cheap and light. For the stands and covers and bottom boards, cheap, light and doesn't rot quickly. Any wood that meats those criteria is fine.

swarmtrap · April 15, 2017, 08:46:56 AM

i use cypress, mainly because its 11.00 dollars for a kiln dried 1"x10"x8' and its sawmill lumber so the dimensions are always over a little a little

Eric Bosworth · April 19, 2017, 10:21:03 AM

I agree with MB's comment about cheap and light. My problem is that cheap isn't light. I use hemlock because it is cheap. I can get a 1"X8"X10' for $6.00. It isn't light but I for the price I can't do any better.

Abuelita · November 24, 2019, 10:13:54 PM

Is there any reason not to use redwood or tan oak for bee boxes besides weight? I had to remove two trees (one of each) and had them milled, so I have lots of "free" wood. It's dried now. I had a colony of wild bees for years in the cavern of a downed tree stum when I moved here, so I presume redwood wouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking of making 6 frame hives so I can lift them.

Ben Framed · November 25, 2019, 03:38:32 AM

Quote from: Abuelita on November 24, 2019, 10:13:54 PM
Is there any reason not to use redwood or tan oak for bee boxes besides weight? I had to remove two trees (one of each) and had them milled, so I have lots of "free" wood. It's dried now. I had a colony of wild bees for years in the cavern of a downed tree stum when I moved here, so I presume redwood wouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking of making 6 frame hives so I can lift them.

I do not know of any reason why redwood should not be good for hives. We do not have redwood in my area but the experience that I have had is redwood is not a (heavy wood? Now all oak here in Mississippi is a heavy wood . I am not familiar with tan oak. We have Red Oak, White Oak, Pen Oak, I never have heard of tan oak but I would venture that it is a heavy material being it is in the oak family. Congratulations on the lumber and bees.
Phillip

Michael Bush · November 25, 2019, 08:44:54 AM

I have made hives out of scrap redwood. I would never buy it for hives as it's too expensive.

herbhome · November 25, 2019, 08:17:18 PM

I built some hives with rough sawn eastern cedar which is actually a juniper and not a true cedar. I hoped it would have an affect on varroa numbers but alas that wasn't the case. The wood weighs about the same as pine and resists rot.

Michael Bush · November 26, 2019, 08:46:28 AM

> I hoped it would have an affect on varroa numbers but alas that wasn't the case.

Yes, it works fine but does nothing for Varroa or wax moths...