# plywood for hive bodies ?



## weldingfreak6010 (Sep 11, 2012)

I may be e new to beekeeping but know a little about woodworking and from my experience the plywood would be great for a short term solution,warpage, delaminating, all the other troubles with plywood but for a year or two + should not bee a problem, solid wood should last for 10-20yrs if kept painted. plywood 2-5 max I would think. If you are building for yourself then might want to look at the long term investment, I.E. do I want to remake these boxes in couple years? Unless you can get plywood free from someplace then may be worth it? 

just my two cents


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## jdmidwest (Jul 9, 2012)

Plywood is glued together with all kinds of crap that would pollute the natural essence of the hive. Just use real wood.

As far as lumber goes, look for a local mill or wait until prices drop in the spring. When building season starts, the lumber prices will drop unless there is some disaster or shortage.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

The two primary materials used all across Europe for hives is Plywood and Polystyrene. There are a lot of Naysayers in regards to plywood, but most of their claims are completely unfounded. If treated correctly plywood has the same and sometimes better longevity as conventional pine construction. I would not recommend you use chip boards though except for Advantec specifically.


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## Jayoung21 (Jun 22, 2010)

I've built a few D.Coates nucs out of 1/2" plywood and a couple out of 3/4" and of course ive had solid wood hives. Solid wood is proven and will last for years if kept painted even longer if its hot dipped. So far, the 3/4" plywood is holding up pretty well, the 1/2" is looking a little rough. I build the nucs dec of 2011 so they are just over a year old. A tip for the nucs is to paint all the exposed ends with Titebond III. I'll say it does make a difference but its kind of messy and tedious to do. jdmidwest makes a good point about finding a local sawmill. today I priced some 1" roughcut lumber for building more nucs and it was actually cheaper than using 1/2" plywood. If you want to keep bees for more than a few years, my opionion would be to get the solid stuff, take care of it, and it will last a lifetime.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Care should be taken when buying locally sawn rough cut lumber. If it isn't kiln dried plan on spending a year or more properly air drying it before using it to build wooden ware. If not properly dried you will end up building boxes that will shrink and be useless in the very near future. When I had my mill I had a solar kiln and still had some issues with boxes shrinking and frames no longer fitting. The other issue in some woods are very unstable when drying out and will twist your joints apart.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

We have done well witt the 300 or so plywood boxes we built over the last 4 or 5 years. We stain as opposed to paint and it reduces paiting for us greately (and looks nice too). I have Plywood boxes from 20 years ago still in the field. My complaints would include the routering for the frame rests /handles really strains the routher at times as routering plywood can send gazillions of sharp little glue and wood spears flying as well as occaisionally having to stop and clear the bit and we also find driving a hive staple into plywood for attaching bottom boards is usually a bear. This year we are buying commercial stock again due to time but I will likely build more once June arrives and the some of the early season dust clears.


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## BeeGhost (May 7, 2011)

If you want, build the hives out of plywood and each year if you make a little money, put that money into solid boxes and use the plywood ones to build up hives or use them as swarm traps. I made a few coates nucs in the summer of 2011, painted them and they still look good today!! Recently I have made 6 nucs out of cedar, its about the cheapest wood I can find here. A sheet of 3/8" plywood is about $22 here, even chip board is $15 a sheet!! Eight foot / 5/8" thick cedar planks are $7.40 and I can get 6 nucs out of four planks, and it smells better than plywood when working with it!! I don't have a big wood working shop, just a small table saw and cordless equipment, so easier to handle planks than a sheet of plywood!!


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

We have lots of supers made from 3/4 fir plywood.It is painted and last for years. Lap joints, glued and deck screws holds them together.


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## whiskeytripping (Nov 16, 2012)

If you are going to use a engineered wood product, i have heard GREAT reviews about the advantech, its pretty much indestructable from what ive read, half the people out there dont even paint their hives. (Thats a HUGE plus to me). Check into it


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

I've made several nucs out of plywood which work great. I've also seen a lot of unmanaged colonies in plywood doing removals and they seem just fine for years.


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## cdevier (Jul 17, 2010)

Last year I found that I could purchase un-assembled boxes from Mann Lake for less than Pine boards at Lowes or Home Depot. Mann Lake ships free when the order is over $100. I spent my time in the shop in assemly and painting.

Charlie zone 5 12 hives


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## tommysnare (Jan 30, 2013)

ohhhh mannlake mannlake. i believe thats the same company whose stuff i ordered arrived yesterday. not impressed with how they scattered my foundation all over the inside of the box. im figuring half of my foundation i ordered is a total loss. im pretty sure we wont be using them again....what a let down


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## weldingfreak6010 (Sep 11, 2012)

tommysnare said:


> ohhhh mannlake mannlake. i believe thats the same company whose stuff i ordered arrived yesterday. not impressed with how they scattered my foundation all over the inside of the box. im figuring half of my foundation i ordered is a total loss. im pretty sure we wont be using them again....what a let down


I have a feeling that if contacted and informed about the "mess" the would more then make it up to you at least that was my experience.


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## tommysnare (Jan 30, 2013)

no response as of yet. im sure they will....im just blowin off some steam because it was real drag.


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## oblib (Oct 28, 2011)

weldingfreak6010 said:


> I have a feeling that if contacted and informed about the "mess" the would more then make it up to you at least that was my experience.


I can second that. I recently received a order from them. They had miscounted and sent one too many cases of medium frames and one case short on the deeps. When I called and told them the mistake the first words out of their mouth was, " Well you keep those extras and use them when you need them and we will get a case of the correct size out immediately." Two days later the replacement case was here.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

tommysnare said:


> ohhhh mannlake mannlake. i believe thats the same company whose stuff i ordered arrived yesterday. not impressed with how they scattered my foundation all over the inside of the box. im figuring half of my foundation i ordered is a total loss. im pretty sure we wont be using them again....what a let down


If you are not happy with your Mann Lake experience you probably should not order any bee stuff from anybody else.... Because you will be real unhappy. In my 25 years with bees Mann lake has proven to be about the best in customer service. I have ordered from everybody of notoriety in both the USA and CA and Mann Lake is the top of the heap.


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## Edward Greene (Feb 23, 2013)

Is advantech bee safe? Man that stuff is great!! It want rot it want warp and it is water proof. I never thought about making hives out of it. It may be the way to go if it don't hurt the bees. Its not real cheap but a few coats of paint they would last forever.


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## gunter62 (Feb 13, 2011)

Edward Greene said:


> Is advantech bee safe?
> 
> We live in houses made from it, so the more important question might be "is it people safe?".
> 
> I personally wouldn't worry about it much. I'd just use it if I wanted to.


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## tommysnare (Jan 30, 2013)

im ovr the Mannlake situation. when they were mentioned...i had literally (within the hour of reading it) had opened up that order. hahaha soo u can imagine my 'homer simpson' like impulse to blurt out. "DOH"


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Before you complain about Mann Lake, you should be aware that they will tell you that shipping foundation in the winter is at your risk. Beeswax becomes very brittle when it's cold, and will shatter like glass at 15F. If you had it shipped when it was cold, you were warned it wouldn't likely make it to you intact. Nothing Mann Lake or anyone else could do about it.

I need a pile of foundation, but will either drive down to Kelley's to get it or wait until the night temps are well above freezing to order it, it will arrive shattered otherwise.

Peter


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## tommysnare (Jan 30, 2013)

yeah i read and understood that no worries. i took the risk and knew it. BUT...it wasnt the cold weather (if we want to continue to talk about something im really past) it was the fact that it was scattered in the box along with my other items. it seriously looked like they used it for packing material. pretty weird frankly. but like i said...im over it. remember...never sweat the small stuff...also remember...everything is small stuff.
im really just excited to have a new passion with these little buggers and im jumping all in with both feet.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Edward Greene said:


> Is advantech bee safe? Man that stuff is great!! It want rot it want warp and it is water proof. I never thought about making hives out of it. It may be the way to go if it don't hurt the bees. Its not real cheap but a few coats of paint they would last forever.


I have pulled bees out of used oil drums, and pockets in walls that they chewed all the insulation out of. They are pretty adaptable.. I would have no concern about it being toxic to them if I were to use it.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Use exterior siding (T1-11). Don’t go so thin that you do not have strength for the width of super or body. Hit the exterior with a good coat of primer before you paint on any exposed portion. Take a look around and you will see that it is a combination that lasts for exterior buildings. Exterior sheet product, exterior glue, exterior primer, exterior paint. IMHO Tightbond makes a great glue but it is not paint primer, try it and you will find that is where the paint will fall off and the sun will destroy it (as Tommy Mac says read and follow the directions).


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I haven't used it lately and maybe the glue has improved. Mine didn't last as long as solid wood. The glues in plywood have also improved as far as outgassing. It used to give off a lot of formaldehyde but after a lot of press about how new buildings were making people sick, they improved the outgassing a lot.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

bluegrass said:


> If you are not happy with your Mann Lake experience you probably should not order any bee stuff from anybody else.... Because you will be real unhappy. .


I am a happy Mann Lake customer too....nothing but good things to say about them!  I would contact them...and I bet they would fix my problem quick.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

I've used plywood for migratory and telescoping tops and for bottom boards. 10 per sheet works for me and if you pay 20 to 30 bucks for 3 or 4 ply 3/4" plywood, the cost per cover is way lower then commercial covers even when you add in the cost for pine boards you need to finish the bottom boards, or telescoping covers, glue and staples. My bees have never seemed to complain about the plywood either  Now, I do dip in way heated rosin and wax all my equipment...and the plywood almost never warps on me with my process.


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## tommysnare (Jan 30, 2013)

Mann lake just took great care of the situation !

definitely a loyal customer now !!!!!!


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

tommysnare said:


> Mann lake just took great care of the situation !
> 
> definitely a loyal customer now !!!!!!


Wonderful news!


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Kelley's packs theirs in very sturdy boxes, not as loose sheets. I still don't buy it when it's really cold, but you would have to work to break it even then.

Glad it got taken care of.

Peter


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## whiskeytripping (Nov 16, 2012)

You guys are really making me nervous, i ordered a 200$ order of foundations from Mann Lake, they should be here today, still haven't made it. I just wish you could buy insurance on it. Im sure i will be fine, i have been watching the weather there in hackensack, boy I'm glad i don't live that far north. Even if they break, I'm sure i will find a way to use them


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## Jeanette (Jul 7, 2012)

A while back, I did some research into the safety of using plywood for beehives. You are welcome to have a look at the blog I wrote: http://hivetasks.com.au/blog/113/formaldehyde-in-plywood-bee-hives

Despite my personal wariness, I concluded that modern plywood was safe. To make it even safer, you can age your plywood for a couple of months before using it (the VOC emissions reduce by 25% within 6 weeks of production). There is also low-VOC and VOC-free plywood available from some suppliers.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

wow Jeanette, you really did some homework. Thanks for the link as well as all the references to back it up.


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