Pine boxes verses cedar.

[LaurieBee]

Comments? Opinions? Anything?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk

[danno]

I have about 500 boxes all pine no cedar

[JackM]

Cedar is more expensive than pine.  Unprotected cedar will last a very long time without decomposition.  Painted pine will too.  No difference as far as the bees are concerned.  

[10framer]

the options on this side of the country are pine or cypress.  i've got both and so far the cypress has tended to split more.

[MsCarol]

OK, I am taking a WAG here but when saying "cedar" here one is referring to Western Redcedar, Thuja plicata, a cypress of the Pacific northwest?

Being in the east, I have quite a bit of Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, a species of juniper native to eastern North America. Some of it large enough to use as planking.

BUT the Eastern Red cedar also repels insects. I kinda wonder if bees would even like it.

I too have both painted pine and cypress hives, but haven't had them so many years as to evaluate them. Although I did not the cypress does have a tendency to crack. I started painting them this year. I had simply sealed them at the beginning with a clear sealer.

[rober]

I've used pine, western cedar, & fir. all work fine but the cedar requires more careful handling of the hive tool since it's softer. I paint everything. even cedar will deteriorate when left to the weather. my experience with Cyprus is that it's not worth the extra money. it tends to split & does not weather as well as the old growth cedar from the past. I've seen it rot out in just 4 or 5 years on construction projects. I do not recommend not using it. I'm basing this on 30 years of experience as a carpenter. I've seen hives built from eastern red cedar ( juniper ) but have no experience with it.

[10framer]

i should mention that it's white pine that i use not southern yellow pine. 

[LaurieBee]

There's a gentleman nearby that makes beautiful cedar
hives complete. If the bees don't care either way but cedar repells other insects maybe the bees would be safer. Just a theory.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk

[LaurieBee]

another question I would have is what would you treat the cedar with if you don't paint?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk

[BlueBee]

Polyurethane with UV protection.

[marktrl]

Cedar is much lighter then pine. But isn't all that bug resistant, if you leave a board laying on the ground here for a couple of weeks the termites eat it just like anything else.

[LaurieBee]

I like the idea of cedar being "much lighter". Perhaps, at some point, I can try both. Thank you everyone. I am enlightened once again.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk

[ugcheleuce]

Check out http://www.wood-database.com/ to see how heavy (and hard) woods really are.  Just type the name in the search box -- the site's search function is remarkably good.  For example:

Western Red Cedar:       23 lbs/ft3 (370 kg/m3)
Eastern Red Cedar:       33 lbs/ft3 (530 kg/m3)

Yellow Pine (Shortleaf): 35 lbs/ft3 (570 kg/m3)
Yellow Pine (Slash):     41 lbs/ft3 (655 kg/m3)
Yellow Pine (Longleaf):  41 lbs/ft3 (650 kg/m3)
Yellow Pine (Loblolly):  35 lbs/ft3 (570 kg/m3)

White Pine (Eastern):    25 lbs/ft3 (400 kg/m3)
White Pine (Western):    27 lbs/ft3 (435 kg/m3)
White Pine (Sugar):      25 lbs/ft3 (400 kg/m3)

The OP uses white pine, which is not so heavy as yellow pine, and about as heavy as western red cedar.

[BlueBee]

Wow, that's a surprise!  White Pine nearly as light at Thuja Plicata?  Sure didn't seem that why when I was building a deck, but who knows.  Maybe the Thuja Plicata had a lower moisture content.  Heck if we're looking for lowest weight, let's not count out Polystyrene Foam!  Its about 25x lighter than all that heavy wood  :-D

I will have to admit that Thuja Plicata is a lot prettier wood than Pine if it is protected from the UV.  Otherwise, gray is gray.

[ugcheleuce]

Unprotected cedar will last a very long time without decomposition. Painted pine will too.

If short-term cost is less important than long-term durability for you, then consider thermally treated wood.  Here in Holland the price ratio between non-treated spruce, thermally treated spruce, and red cedar is 7:9:11.  Both non-treated spruce and red cedar ideally needs to be painted or varnished, but the thermally treated spruce needs no further protection (and it looks beautiful).

[BeeMaster2]

Cedar is much lighter then pine. But isn't all that bug resistant, if you leave a board laying on the ground here for a couple of weeks the termites eat it just like anything else.

If you look close, you will see that the termites are eating the sap (white) wood and leaving the heartwood (red) un touched.
Use the heartwood if you are going to have ground contact.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Wow, that's a surprise!  White Pine nearly as light at Thuja Plicata?  Sure didn't seem that why when I was building a deck, but who knows.  Maybe the Thuja Plicata had a lower moisture content.  Heck if we're looking for lowest weight, let's not count out Polystyrene Foam!  Its about 25x lighter than all that heavy wood  :-D

I will have to admit that Thuja Plicata is a lot prettier wood than Pine if it is protected from the UV.  Otherwise, gray is gray.

I'm even more surprised that they are a showing eastern red cedar is almost as heavy as short leaf pine.
That might be an error. It feel like it is closer to white pine.
Jim

[asprince]

Most of mine are some sort of yellow pine. My friend and mentor has a band saw sawmill and he saws donated logs from a local tree removal company. If properly painted they hold up well.

You want to talk about light weight and bug proof. He sawed some Paulownia logs and made some hive bodies. They look and work good. Very very light.

Steve    

[LaurieBee]

I clicked on that website and lost myself for a bit. I love wood. I was looking at the wood types. Then the "wood periodic table" (so cool by the way). Then started looking at hardwood flooring. I got way of course. You lovely people are a wealth of information and you get my interests moving.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk

[BlueBee]

Then started looking at hardwood flooring.

Wow, your bees are going to have the best house in town  :)