# Building hives



## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I use what I have but usually it's pine. There are LOTS of discussions here regarding the best wood, joinery, glue, etc. What works for me is pine, box joints, gorilla glue, staples for fasteners, oil primer and good quality oil or latex paint. I jig the box joints, cut rabbets for the frame rests, cut straight slots for the side grips using the same stacked dado set that I cut the box joints with and assemble. I've never replaced a rotted out box yet although I did lose a few boxes and frames this weekend to a bear....but I don't build them to be bear proof!


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

White Pine is about the nicest for being split free and less cupping. Plywood is not as good at nail holding and hard to keep paint on the edges where there is end grain showing. Pine is the most commonly seen in commercially produced hive bodies.


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## snapper1d (Apr 8, 2011)

I have used plywood before but didnt like it.Too many voids on the inside and many splinters.I used southern yellow pine years ago only to see them warp and pull nails out.I will never use that again.Also it likes to split when nailed.Then I have used white pine and it worked real well.No warping with it.Basswood we dont see down here so cant say about it.I use TB III and it doesnt bother the bees any.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Basswood works too and I liked working with it. TB III works good too. I use it on my frames as well.


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

The most important characteristics in wood for bee equipment is light weight and resistance to warping and splitting -- they are quite heavy enough when full of bees and honey, and anything that opens up the joints will result in rotting.

Obviously, if you are interested in longevity, something like teak would be prefect, as it's extremely resistant to rot and warping, but a teak box in 3/4" would be VERY heavy, to say nothing of very expensive. Same goes for white oak,and you would probably have to pre-drill nail holes to prevent splitting when you nailed them up.

Pine is great, meets all the main criteria. Ponderosa, white, and similar pines are fine. Southern Yellow pine is heavier and prone to splitting because the winter wood is very hard in comparison to the summer wood. A bear to drive nails in, too - I make top bars from it and bend nails sometimes during assembly. Should last forever though.

Other choices are indeed basswood -- keep it well painted, it rots easily -- well cured cottonwood, aspen, catalpa, cedar, and cypress. Obviously most of those are regional, and not everyone will mill them because the sales potential is low. I suppose sassafras might be OK, but it may split easily and it's often sold as ash.

Things I would NOT use are oak, hickory, walnut (duh!), ash, pecan and probably hackberry. Not sure about hackberry, one of the local furniture makers uses it for chair and sofa framing, so it may be too hard and heavy. Not all that common anyway. I'm not sure I would use eastern red cedar due to the odor getting into the honey and the cost, it's also brittle. Heartwood cypress will last forever and a day, but it's heavy and expensive due to rarity, but if you tumble on some cheap, it's fine. Redwood is brittle, etc. I'm sure I'm leaving some local wood out.

All common adhesives are fine if fully set, none of them outgas signifcantly. Titebond III is probably the best, or polyurethane depending on your ability to get tight joints. I use nails, as they are easy and work just fine even if you don't use glue (which was standard prior to the 50's anyway). Screw work fine but are expensive and will NOT hold well if you ever overtighten them as they act like drills and can strip the wood out of the holes. Hard to do, but I've seen it.

Box joints are probably the best overall joint -- dovetails are probably better, but I'm not going to dovetail dozens of boxes, I don't have time. Takes long enough to cut box joints in my shop. Dado joints are OK, butt joints last choice but they work, Granddad used them for decades.

Good paint is critical -- I've been using a coat of linseed oil followed by alkyd primer (which is mostly linseed oil anyway, with polymerization initiators and pigment and some flexibility additives) followed when fully set by two or three coats of high grade exterior latex. Most of my early boxes painted just with alkyd primer and latex are peeling badly and will have to be repainted this year, ditto for the house where Mom had a church group slop on decent paint without primer, it's peeling like crazy. This is why I suggest the linseed oil coating, allowed to sit overnight or a couple days, it will penetrate into the wood a bit and then polymerize, and fresh primer will polymerize with it, eliminating the peeling issue. Milled wood is slightly burnished, and since I don't want to sand every box before painting and remove the anti-rust coating on the nails or screws, the linseed oil overnight makes the paint stick.

Peter


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

psfred said:


> Things I would NOT use are oak, hickory, walnut (duh!), ash, pecan and probably hackberry. Peter


I never heard not to use walnut before (not that I would). I use a fair bit of it here and dump the planer shavings between the raised garden beds. The juglone keeps other plants from growing and can mess with the horses feet in too high of concentration; but never heard of an issue with bugs.
Keep in mind that a lot of the woods that are real good against rot and bug infestations are also hazardous to your lungs. I know that cedar has started to really affect me.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/toxic-woods.aspx


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Walnut would work just fine, but kiln dried walnut in this neck of the woods is running $6 a board foot and up for wide boards. Very very expensive to use furniture grade wood for bee boxes (or firewood, where most of it around here ends up).

It would make great boxes, just sort of like using solid gold handles.

Peter


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## wallyblackburn (May 5, 2015)

It's a touch pricey, but I like cedar with box joints. Looks great, weathers well, and is naturally rot-resistant without painting.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

psfred said:


> Very very expensive to use furniture grade wood for bee boxes (or firewood, where most of it around here ends up).


In Harlan County, Kentucky, I was taught to use walnut in the kitchen wood stove because you could carefully control the heat. It split nicely into thin splinters, and one could cook a perfect omelet using 2 or 3 splinters in the firebox.

While living in Arkansas, I was horrified to see gorgeous Black Cherry cut to be creosoted into railroad ties. I filled a truck with wonderful, furniture-grade slabs and hauled it to Washington, DC. The weight destroyed the truck, and I barely broke even. In those days, they were spraying 2-4-D from airplanes to kill the hardwoods and plant pine. Wonder if they still do that?

Later, in California, a friend was pulling root stumps of Black Walnut that had English Walnut grafted above. He asked me to help, and I demurred remembering the Arkansas Black Cherry fiasco. He shipped container-loads of the stumps to Germany, where they were shaved into veneer. He made millions -- millions --- you likely see that "burn pile" veneer on the dash of your luxury Rolls.


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## beemaster2015 (Aug 30, 2015)

thanks for all the info guys gives me some good ideas


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## kendar2007 (Jan 19, 2016)

hi there,

My name's Andi. nice to meet you all. base on what i reading abovce, the best material is pine woods. but in here got termites problems and tropical season (Dry and Raining). and also beside all the wood it consider its heavy.

i'm newbie in bee keeping that wanted to built own hive, but using the teak wood it sound like heavy but it stand in termites and strong one.

but if i use pine, any advice that should I treat the wood? and got any sugestion with what i treat it so it not couse harm to the bee

thanks,
Andi


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