never painting my hives again.

[Wynoochee_newbee_guy]

Just thought the bees don't care what colorthe hives are so why should i I brush Jassco brown termin on them and they look like this.

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[MrJeff]

Did you mean to include a pic, Wynoochee? How far up the Wynoochee do you live? I spent three years stationed in Westport with the Coast Guard, and lived in Aberdeen for a couple of those years. There was a group of us who spent many liberty weekends camping along the Wynoochee, we liked to get as far upriver as we could. I could tell you some stories, that's for sure. I loved those deep woods.

[MrJeff]

I see your pic now. I like the look of plain wood, and I don't think the bees give a hoot one way or the other.

[harvey]

I like the look of the bare wood also,  I am getting ready to build a couple more hive boxes, deeps and mediums and I am planning on using an outdoor varnish like Helmsmans on it.  Just think they look better.  Hope the bee's agree.  Makeing the boxes doesn't seem to tough I have build two so far and am using them for swarm traps.  Next ones I am sure will be a little better quality.  I don't have the know how or tools to make rabbit joints so I just butted the ends and glued and screwed them.  They are unfinished and we will see how they hold up.  I think they will be fine specially for the brood chambers cause they won't get moved or handled much.  I still need to figure out the inner cover and top cover though.  Didn't need anything special for the swarm traps.

[Paraplegic Racehorse]

There are those who argue that weatherproofing the wood with paint or other stuff doesn't extend the life of the wood long enough to justify the investment (money + time) of applying it. I'm rapidly falling into that camp, though I must admit I enjoy pictures of brightly painted hives common in eastern Europe.

Thanks for the photo. It sure is pretty.

[Wynoochee_newbee_guy]

Yes I just brush the jasco on and its funny how each part of the wood turns out. and jeff I live up by old Camp Grizdale.

[woodchopper]

There are those who argue that weatherproofing the wood with paint or other stuff doesn't extend the life of the wood long enough to justify the investment (money + time) of applying it. I'm rapidly falling into that camp, though I must admit I enjoy pictures of brightly painted hives common in eastern Europe.

Thanks for the photo. It sure is pretty.

We looked at some used equipment last year that had been painted when it was first new. It was 37 years old and still usable. I like the look of natural wood but I seriously doubt unpainted will ever last as long as painted.

[iddee]

In an emergency, I used an unpainted bottom board last week. It rained for 2 days. The boards swelled so bad it pulled the nails out and left 1/2 in. openings on each side at the back. I'll paint from now on.

[Wynoochee_newbee_guy]

Wow I recieve a avage 90 inches of rain a year. never had problems like that must have been green wood.

[iddee]

Whatever Jassco is, it may seal the wood. I used it plain, with nothing on it.

[jajtiii]

Jasco is a wood preservative. It's probably fine for beehives, but I would be leery of putting it on honey supers if I were selling the honey.

[Wynoochee_newbee_guy]

Its fine it cures fine once on and dry there is nothing to worry about. Just let it dry.

[jajtiii]

From a food perspective, it's a liability issue. Using that material in foodstuff's (specifically in beehives, which are mentioned in literature) is not approved by the FDA.

If you are eating the honey, it is no big deal at all.

If you are selling it and you have any assets that you treasure, you are putting them at some risk. The risk (or beekeeper assets) may be small enough as to not be a big deal to a given individual, but the risks do exist.

I am definitely no tree hugger, but it seems logical to me that putting something designed to kill termites into my coffee cup is probably not going to help me very much. Add to that the liability to my estate if I try to sell this coffee cup to another person and they begin to feel a bit queer and I don't mind putting a few coats of paint on the boxes.

The real point of this post is not so much to say that paint is better then wood preservative, but to say (especially to any new person reading this) that there are two sides to the coin, with regard to opinions on this matter. I'll leave it at that.

[NWIN Beekeeper]

["It was 37 years old and still usable."]

Let's see thats 1973.

I have some old section comb boxes from a monastary that are 'autographed' by the "fr. such and such".
There are a number of notes like "added on 5-'42", "added on 6-43", on the outside and I believe those to be every bit of 67 years old from 1942. Being basswood sections, the equipment probably was only used seasonally, so that might be considered a bit of a cheat.  :-P

It's always neat when you find an old company logo stamped inside of their wooden ware.

[Wynoochee_newbee_guy]

Jajiiti You ever watch a year in apiary by DR. Delaphane of UGA? he uses copper nappthate which is Jassco both in side aand out. unless your bees chew the wood injest the wood make honey out of the wood then you have a problem. use common sense do you paint the in side of your hives? no same with what I do I don't coat the inside with Jassco but i can say my hives won't rot.