# Made a linseed oil wax/paste for inside the hive



## msscha (Jan 4, 2014)

Several people have mentioned using linseed oil to treat wood both inside and outside hives. The purpose is to preserve the wood with a natural product to improve longevity, control swelling, manage condensation, etc. Michael Bush has great pictures of the linseed oil and beeswax boiling bath he gives his whole hives! As I don't have a tub that big;-), I decided to go a bit smaller. I warmed up boiled linseed oil, and added melted beeswax at a ratio of about 1 part wax to 5 parts oil (might have been 1:4 -- I didn't measure, was just using scraps of beeswax I had laying about and going on memory of salve making). They mixed very nicely and formed a nice, soft paste after cooling. I rubbed a very thin layer on the inside of the hive (outside is painted), let it set for 10 minutes then rubbed again with a cloth (though there didn't seem to be excess product). That's it -- just thought I'd share the idea.


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## beegeorge (Apr 19, 2012)

WHY worry about the inside of the hive,, protect the outside from the weather,, and let the bees take care of the inside,, after all,, I have never heard of a swarm of bees not moving into a hollow tree or hollow building wall because it was not treated by a human.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

When's the last time you heard of a swarm refusing to move into a tree because in the *outside* was unpainted?

Betcha never heard of that happening, either.


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## beegeorge (Apr 19, 2012)

TRUE,, but I am not paying for that lumber,, and I dont care if it rots.. but I DO care about taking care of the outside of the hives to protect my investment,,

so,, if Beregondo,, if you care not about yours tis life


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Are you trying to protect or waterproof the inside of the hive too? I thought the
bees are doing a good job at waterproofing it. This is what I see so far inside my hive.
Though the salve/paste is good for waterproofing the leather, tarps, backpack, bag, shoes, etc.
I just put a coat or 2 of the boiled linseed oil on my hives at every Spring to protect them.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

I paint the outside of my hives.

I don't think whether or not the bees turn down a space because of paint, or oil/wax, have any bearing at all on what we ought to do with our hives.

The argument carries about as much weigh in my opinion as whether or not one should use foundation, or frames, or treat for mites or not based on bees not using them in the wild.

As soon as we put them in a box, there are things we do or don't do based other considerations.

To decided to coat the inside of a hive or not based on whether or not bees pick precoated tree spaces makes about as much sense as the Ace Aqueous Hurricane Hive Top Hold Down.


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## msscha (Jan 4, 2014)

Bees do coat the inside of the hive themselves, and the treatment is simply to give them some help in this regard. As for the inside of hollow trees...since trees exude saps of various kinds when injured, then the hollow of a tree does come pre-equipped with some interior treatment, just as the thickness of the wood plus the bark provide insulation (considerably more than beehives do).


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Michael Bush has great pictures of the linseed oil and beeswax boiling bath he gives his whole hives! 

No linseed oil at all. Just beeswax and rosin. But the inside is irrelevant. The bees will propolize it anyway. The only reason the whole hive gets cooked is that cooking it is what causes it to permeate the wood.


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## msscha (Jan 4, 2014)

Aah, thank you, Michael.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

For the first time I have coated the inside of the hive with boiled linseed oil.
So far the bees are doing well. No side effects yet. The reason for the coat is to
protect the osb hive against the moisture, mold and fungus inside the hive. I think the
next time I will use a blow torch to burn the linseed oil into the hive boards. They are still
shiny after a year of use.


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## sjj (Jan 2, 2007)

Thank you, msscha.


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## Adam Roae (May 31, 2014)

In the UK, boiled linseed oil has all sorts of additives in it, so I would only use something which said "linseed oil" and not "boiled linseed oil", even on the outside. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Boiled_linseed_oil.


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## texanbelchers (Aug 4, 2014)

beepro said:


> For the first time I have coated the inside of the hive with boiled linseed oil.
> So far the bees are doing well. No side effects yet. The reason for the coat is to
> protect the osb hive against the moisture, mold and fungus inside the hive. I think the
> next time I will use a blow torch to burn the linseed oil into the hive boards. They are still
> shiny after a year of use.


How does the OSB hold up? I get irritated every time I look at the dimensional lumber quality and price.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I would think that OSB would bow out badly in the middle of the hive if you didn't have some ribbing from some 1x or something. I think that if you used Advantech it would last a long time, but the edges would probably take a beating quickly.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Yes, the osb hive (boards) is still holding up nicely after almost 4 years.
The migratory lids seem to last forever with new linseed coating every year.
Yes, the center of the deep will wrap inward a bit but not too much. This was because I did
not make the box hand held all the way from end to end. A little modification with the hand held will
certainly solve this wrapping issue. I built mine to last with 2" nails and deck screws to assemble the hive
boards together. And nail the side box hand held with 1.5" wooden strips onto the boards.
The assembly also use TB-3 to hold the butt joints together though finger joint is better I think. The longer sides
of the box did not wrap in at all only the sides holding the frames did a bit. Overall, to water proof the inside of
the osb with linseed oil and coat the outside to make the hive shiny and weather proof will have a long lasting hive.
There was a thread that I post on here before about the osb hives I made. It was a test only with good results so far.
And excellent for the nucs or swarm traps too.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

OK, so this isn't a top bar, but standard lang boxes.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Yes, I have the langs though a tbh can use
this process and material too. You just have to
figure out a way to do it. Perhaps to line up the inside
with the wood strips and put foams to insulate it after coating the inside.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

I made some boxes.out of advantech and I he held up very well...surprisingly, even at the edges.

There is no way I would use OSB for boxes...as soon as ANY water gets into it, it swells.

And all it takes is a little warpage exposing a bit of it that the linseed oil couldn't reach when the joint was nailed tight and the oil couldn't reach it for water to get into it.

Once that happens, OSB falls apart pretty fast.

But you can cut a bare pie e of Advantech and throw it out on the ground and leave it for years, and it will still be sound.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I am not sure we are talking about the same type of osb. We have the 4'x8'
for roofing and sidings here. They are made out of the thin wood chips/shavings glued
together and compressed into a large piece board. They are lower grade than the advantec
boards. So last year I put out a 4'x8' piece in the yard to test it out. So far they seem to hold and
has not come apart under the weather. Maybe the glue that the manuf. use has a water proofing effect once the
wood shavings are compressed together. The osb hives can be primed, painted, stained, water proof, and certainly
the linseed or wax can be use to further water proof them. The edges are first to bee water proof then painted
with exterior house paint, cherry color stained and finally a few coats of boiled linseed oil outside. Very sturdy and water proof
to me so far. Once the inside is coated with the linseed oil they are moisture proof too. And will keep out the molds. 
The bees don't really seem to care as they probably will put another layer of propolis over them. Works for me, so far!


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Note that _Beepro _is in Sacramento CA, where Governor Brown just declared a statewide water emergency since California is in a long running drought situation. 

Perhaps if Sacramento had a bit more _rain_, that outdoor OSB might not be doing so well. Here in TN, lots of paint on exposed OSB delays its delamination somewhat, but OSB is not suited for permanent outdoor exposure.

Note that Advantech is manufactured with additional resins, and performs much better than standard OSB in outdoor exposure.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

Yeah, Advantech's glue I'd actually a polymer resin that impregnates the wood and makes it water proof.

Here in wetsern Washington OSB on exposedvto weather ( evrn if only at egdes of the chips) would be lucky to make it a year.

I keep looking for less-expensive-in-the-long-term material but keep coming back to 1 by lumber and good paint.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

For a small scale set up operation the maintenance is not an issue.
The trick here is to not let the edges exposed to the rains. When I built these deep boxes and
migratory lids I make sure to put on the linseed oil on the edges first after cutting them. Then put the boards out in the
hot sun to dry. Once the boards are dry they are ready to be water proof with the Thompson water seal.
So the process is as follow: cut boards, edges linseed oiled, assembling the hives, water proof applied on the boards,
exterior house paint applied, cherry color stained and last coat of linseed oil on the outside. Every year to linseed oil the hives to make them
shiny and water proof again. The secret is in the painting and water proofing them. And I did not use the advantec boards just
the osb chips/composite boards will do. Yes, the chips have a coat of water proof resin on them but the extra linseed and Thompson will
help tremendously on water proofing them for years to come. 4th years and still holding. Other than the materials used the craftsmanship is very
important too. How you assemble and paint them make much the difference. You can try a 4'x8' osb board to see if they will hold up in your
rainy weather. At least to give it a test first to see the results for yourself. I had also dissected the hive using a Harbor freight propane flame thrower torch
in short duration with not much charring on the board.


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## coffeedad (Apr 10, 2012)

EVERYONE please beware that the old rags when using linseed oil can self combust. It dries by oxidation and is used by arsonists. I almost burned my house down after wiping some spilled linseed oil up and tossing the papertowel in the trash. I woke up in the middle of the night to flames licking the ceiling of my basement. Scary stuff just trying to save someone from the same mistake.
Dave


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Thanks for the combustion warning!
Though I have never seen it happens before when I work with them
outside and never inside my house. Always read the warning label and the safety
of disposing them. And because the inside of the hive is regulated by the bees and the outside is
already dry I don't see a danger of causing a potential fire.


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## coffeedad (Apr 10, 2012)

I don't see a problem with a beehive bursting into flames i just think the rags would be the problem.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I don't want my beehives bursting into flames!


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## DirtyLittleSecret (Sep 10, 2014)

Made a flax oil, beeswax & pine resin paste last night to seal the outside of 10 new supers. I'll do the outside, but the ladies like their interior designs better than I can provide. When it comes to the inside of the house leave them bee...


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