# copper naphthenate



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

I have used both copper and zinc naphthenate (separately) as preservatives for lumber used in the construction of greenhouses, but I've not used either with beehive components.

It takes months of Summer heat before the surface will easily take a layer of paint. It seems to give off a faint odor even after more than a year outdoors in the Tucson desert. Though I do not know if it will have any effect on bees or beehive products.


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## deejaycee (Apr 30, 2008)

We use a copper naphthenate product on our boxes, though we just thin and brush it on, rather than the bath and soak method usually recommended, so ours is relatively low dose. 

We air boxes outside for couple of weeks afterwards (constructed, and off-set stacked so the wood has as much air contact as possible. I have had to put boxes on hives at two weeks after this treatment with no perceptible problems for the bees. 

However, because ours is a low-dose sort of method, we certainly can't smell anything by that stage (or even shortly after), and the wood is only tinged with colour, so maybe you're talking a whole 'nother level from what our bees are exposed to. 

If you have significant smell around, I'd hesitate, especially if it's for use in a honey super.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Set them out in full sunlight with good ventilation. Stand the boxes on end so max air can flow through. Once the CN has dried they're usable. If you're using packages you're not going to need supers for quite awhile so the supers should be completely cured by then.


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## mysticmd (Aug 28, 2010)

Hi - if you Google Copper naphthenate toxicity - a lot of links pop up.

Try from Florida U: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi103

Scroll down a ways and you will see a chart which includes toxicity to bees, in partic.

Good Luck!

(Read also what it MAY do to humans -- from nothing to skin irritant to burning a hole in the nasal membranes --obviously depends on dosages).

Regards,

M


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I think it depends on what you diluted it with. I dipped/soaked some brood boxes and SBB in Cop Nap from Dadant's (Perme-8) that I diluted with diesel, about 5 diesel to 1 Cop Nap. I let them air out all last year. They still smell a little this spring. A lot of commercial guys do this without apparent problems. Key word may be "apparent."

Some guys dilute Cop Nap with mineral spirits. No smell, but get out your checkbook. Min Sp are expensive.

Lowes sold a water-soluble, ready-to-use Cop Nap that had little odor after a couple of weeks of airing out. Nice brown color that looks like deck stain.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

In the past the label on the concentrate (we buy 8% and dilute it ourselves) used to say "no contact with food products."

Since we use it dutifully I took that literally and have painted BOTH the inside and outside of boxes ever since. 

I'm sure this will give the purest a massive heartache. So be it. Bring on the nitro pills.

One thing is for certain. A box soaked in the stuff and covered with a high dollar coat of oil primer and a finish coat of exterior will last longer than the life a the beekeeper who put them together. (this warranty does not include being dropped of the truck or prevent forkliftitis caused by a beekeeper dreaming of an hour off.) 

I'm sure the stuff was what the Egyptians used to embalm king Tut. Work with it and you will smell like an old mummy yourself.


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

Last summer we had Keith Delaplane (UGA) as the guest speaker at our summer meeting (Indiana State Beekeepers). He said that of all the outdated material that is on his RFD TV beekeeping series (made in 1993), the one thing he really wishes he could delete is the recommendation of using copper naphthenate. He said studies since then have shown that it inhibits bee learning. He urged us NOT to use it.


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## Heartspark (Mar 18, 2011)

I'm watching those now on youtube..is there a list of things he mentions in those videos that you should not do now?


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

The state of Alabama outlawed the use of copper naph on beehives. WE now use linseed oil. TK


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

Heartspark said:


> I'm watching those now on youtube..is there a list of things he mentions in those videos that you should not do now?


No list. Keith's topic was an overview of the Managed Pollinator Coordinated Agriculture Project (CAP) for which UGa is the lead University. The RFD-TV series came up at one point when he was mentioning how new research can result in changes to the way we keep bees. He noted that the RFD-TV series promoted regular preventative treatments, whereas now he would recommend IPM techniques of treating when needed. He then went on to say that the copper naphthenate recommendation is the one thing he really wished he could delete from the videos.


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## FarmerFrazier (Oct 12, 2010)

indypartridge said:


> No list. Keith's topic was an overview of the Managed Pollinator Coordinated Agriculture Project (CAP) for which UGa is the lead University. The RFD-TV series came up at one point when he was mentioning how new research can result in changes to the way we keep bees. He noted that the RFD-TV series promoted regular preventative treatments, whereas now he would recommend IPM techniques of treating when needed. He then went on to say that the copper naphthenate recommendation is the one thing he really wished he could delete from the videos.


Cool, thats good to know. I watched his program on RFD-TV years ago and thats what got me re-interested in bees. I had been thinking about using that since he had talked about it. I have been interested in bees since working next to a commercial beekeepers yard in Iowa Colony, TX. After watching the show I wanted to get some boxes, finally I am this year.


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