# cedar for hive boxes?



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I have not made any cedar hives, but have seen a lot of cedar migratory covers and have had cypress hive bodies and have heard of people making them out of cedar. As far as I know it works ok, it's just expensive. It's also nice and light weight. I've also heard of wild hives in cedar trees, though not often because they aren't often hollow.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

My guess is the mites won't care, but it might cut down on wax moths.









We can always hope anyway.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

I have seen some catalogs w/ items made from western cedar. Red cedar from which a "cedar chest" is made, might be too aromatic. But, a hive stand, thats in contact with the ground might never rot, if made from red cedar. Red cedar is very common in the SE US and is often considered an undesirable "lumber" tree. They do not grow very large and the demand for the wood is low. Might be a good choice for hive stands


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## mark williams (Jan 19, 2003)

The state of MS.built duck nest out of cedar & I've seen alot of bee's build in them.>>>>Mark


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## scsasdsa (Jan 23, 2004)

Thanks guys I guess I will have to try cedar for a while and see if the bees will take to it. I will post the results this summer.


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## Clayton (Dec 8, 2000)

Hi,

You can use eastern white cedar. I personally would avoid the red cedar as it is quite aromatic and the bees may not care for it. I doubt it will do much against mites, and even if it does it will probably effect the bees in the same way too. The white cedar is good, light too, but may be hard to find big enough to make boxes from. But it should work well enough for frames and things.

Clay


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Clayton is right, white cedar would also be a very good choice.

White cedar was (still) once used often in construction of canoes, because it is very light-weight, very rot-resistant.

But white cedar does not "machine" well (frames require a lot), wont withstand much abuse (prying apart), is expensive, and in my local, very, very to find.

I think the all-round "BEST" answer, is White Pine.


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## beeman 202 (Jan 8, 2003)

my experience with cedar is that it tends to split very easily as you drive nails.


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## Hillbillynursery (Nov 13, 2003)

The red cedars here in TN are wanted for anything to be placed outdoor and for fence post. The problem is finding a large enough tree with no limbs. The cedars that have grown close together have few limbs and the price is to high to be used for hive because it is wanted to make furniture. It nails easy with little or no splitting even when well seasoned. Cypress would be the wood of choice for me if money was not the main issue.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

During my logging years I fell many Incense Cedars over 6 foot diameter.In the West this is the cedar used for fencing.It used to be cheap and I used lots of it for hives.Over the years I took more bees out of Incense cedars than any other tree because the great big ones often had rot and hollow spots that swarms had moved into.It will split much easier than pine but I staple everything so its no problem.We have small aromatic Juniper trees here that some people call cedar,but its not much good for lumber because it twists and warps.


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I had two calls last year to remove colonys that were both in cedar squirl nest boxes.

As far as being aromatic, that doesn't matter as soon as the bees propolize the interior.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Bees will propolize anything they find offensive such as menthol or formic pads.They never propolized the incense cedar boxes any more than pine so obviously they have no problem with the smell.I can assure you there is absolutely no effect on mites.The bees will die just as quick in cedar boxes.(by the way bees working on mint fields get no protection from mites by way of 'essential oils' either.I saw a yard of 60 hives die from varroa while working hundreds of acres of peppermint)


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## beemanben (Jan 28, 2004)

I have many supers made from red cedar. The bees seem to like them just fine. I wondered about using them too, they were made by a friend of a relative in Indiana and given to me.


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