Preparing inside of new wood for bees

[Foxhound]

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?

[Michael Bush]

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

[gww]

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

[Michael Bush]

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.