# Is there a bee-safe caulk?



## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Wondering if there is a caulk that can be used inside the closed hive environment. I need to fill up a kerf underneath my SBB. Kerf was intended for the framework supporting a tray used as a sticky board, but I use flat sheets of Coroplast set on the floor of the solid board below. 

Small hive beetles are lurking in the kerf and I want to deny them shelter with caulk.

What have you used?

Thanks,

Nancy


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## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

I have used pure silicone, the bees don't chew on it. You can buy the type that is fish aquarium safe, home depot / lowes carries small tubes of it.


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

beeswax is safe to use


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I've used that paintable caulk with no problems. I did paint over as soon as it "skinned".


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

I've used regular ol' tub and tile caulk in and around the hives without issue, believe most caulks go pretty much inert once they skim over.


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## laketrout (Mar 5, 2013)

silicone has a real nasty smell that can irritate the human nose really bad when its first applied , I wouldnt think the bee's would like it either since there smell capability is probably a 1000 times better than ours but once its cured its probably safe .


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## MidMichBees (Jan 16, 2017)

I'd think most caulk would be fine as long as it was thoroughly dried and off-gassed. On the other hand, beeswax might work and would be safe for sure.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Thanks to everybody for your answers.

Beeswax is a non-starter here because I am trying to foreclose opportunities for wax moths, as well as SHB, because this is new equipment in an EFB environment and because it wouldn't add any structural strength.

On thinking about it, I think even caulk isn't what I want because of the structural issue. As I change out the old SBBs for these new ones I see that ones with this design (the kerf for the tray-hanging apparatus) are collapsing under the weight of the stacks above. My older equipment did not have the kerf but the newer-designed ones do. This is a problem for me, but because of the lateness of the season I am going to go ahead and put them in service. (I will add a daub of caulk where it is exposed on the outside to keep moisture and wind out during the winter.) But next spring I will have to take them all off again and drive a wood spline into the kerf to support the long edges of the of SBB. A PITA, to be sure. 

I will do the little caulking daubs on the front and back edge while it is still warm and the bees have lots of ventilation.

Nancy


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

enjambres>> I am having a hard time picturing what you are trying to accomplish. Do you have a photo you could post or direct me to the bottom boards you are working with?
clyde


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I was at Lowes today because I needed a dowel; in the same section as dowels I noticed that they also have small square strips of wood that could be used to glue into a kerf or a slot.

Also I have used just a mixture of Titebond and sawdust to fill voids in boards. Depending on the shape of the void, I often just squirt some glue in there and then press some sawdust dumped on top, into the glue, with a finger.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

@Clyderoad-

In my new SBB there is kerf running from front to back on the inside of long edges, 3/4" under the screen. it is intended to hold some kind of frame work to support a tray-type of sticky boarding. I use Coroplast sheets laid under the SBB on top of the floor of the solid board below.

I happen to think the tray type of "sticky boards" are not effective surfaces because they are smaller than the full area underneath the hive so some mites will fall away and not be counted. The slot, I suppose, might also be used to slide some kind of thinner plastic sheet to "close up the SBB", which is something I have seen mentioned here from time to time. (But I have never before seen equipment where it was possible.)

With solid board below, I have no need to close anything up, but that doesn't matter. What's happening would render the idea of sliding something in there moot anyway because the weight of the boxes above is forcing the kerf to close on its own which, in turn, is allowing the long edges of the SBB to rotate slightly inward. And that's just on SBB that have been in place for a few months and not on my tallest and heaviest hives. I used some SBB of the new design under some hives with EFB, so these were some of my smallest and lightest this summer.

The kerf is also open on both the back and front sides, too, providing an avenue for SHB to get into the stack under the SBB. Some SHB are small enough to go through the mesh in #8 into the hive proper, but even the fatter ones can live on the rich trash that accumulates on the solid boards. Small wax moths can also get in.

@Radar - thanks for the tip about the source for spline. I will look into that next spring. I was wondering how I would get material as thin as that to pound in.

Nancy


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

What Graham said, if you glue in strips of wood do it now, if you have to dig something out of the kerf it will be much more work.

Automotive Bondo is a possibility, hardens quickly, sticks pretty well, I don't know if it outgasses anything that would be harmful to bees. You might want to rotate a few out for a day to process them.

If you have a table saw you could cut them off at the kerf, but I don't know if that would cause other problems.

Bill


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

I've used this putty before to fill up some gaps and holes. Waited until it completely cured before adding the bees to the box. They don't seem to mind it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U7VRT7Y/ref=asc_df_B00U7VRT7Y5218756/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B00U7VRT7Y&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216767879473&hvpos=1o5&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13717814839804986943&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008578&hvtargid=pla-431165778437


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

My problem is coming up with wife-safe caulk. I had some new ill-fitting hive bodies, so I took some time to put waxed paper between them and then caulk the offending gap. Looked bad but it worked. The waxed paper did not release easily but I could trim off what stuck.

But a couple of inspection later, I caught my wife stripping off the caulk.

Eventually the bees caulked the gap themselves, with propolis. This looks even worse and it is much messier.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Greetings Enjambres,

I started enclosing my screened bottom boards this year by routing a rabbet into the bottom of it and then infilling with a sheet of painted OSB, then I attached a hinged door at the back with a gate keeper to keep it closed. I did half my screened boards. I can still put a sticky board in to monitor mite drops. There is room below for an oil tray except I don't have SHB in my area. In the winter with a coroplast board in the slot the enclosed airspace should afford some bottom insulation. 

After I did that I came across this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfnefkJSfBs&feature=youtu.be

You might try painting the underside area with Rustoleum Never-wet paint. The beetles cannot climb up sides painted with it and they'll get trapped on the bottom where they will die. After you fill the kerf you should be able to paint over it, or you could paint above and below the kerf and the beetles shouldn't be able to climb into it.


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