# Big plans and little experience in Maine... what can go wrong?



## SouthTexasJohn (Mar 16, 2015)

Select hives are better cuts of wood. Commercial has knots, some more than others. As for the extra cost, only you can decide. Welcome to the site. Keep reading. Good luck.


----------



## beegineer (Jul 5, 2011)

Welcome ! Thats great that your wife is interested in being involved it will be something you both can enjoy together . Now all you have to decide is if you are going to treat or go the treatment free path . Enjoy your new hobby , it's addictive .


----------



## wvbeeguy (Feb 20, 2011)

select wood is virtually knot free, commercial has knots- but is very useable. your money- if you can go to a supplier and compare real product you will get a better idea. Wooden ware is a big investment and will last for many seasons well cared for.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>what is the benefit of going with a Commercial or Select hive over the normal hives? Is it worth the extra money?

Select is not worth the money. Commercial are always serviceable. Budget is usually serviceable.


----------



## warrior (Nov 21, 2005)

From a purely functional point of view it matters not as long as the boards are sound and flat. Never try to twist or bend a warped board into place it won't work and you'll end up with a racked box that doesn't sit level.

From an aesthetic point of view if you're doing a garden hive or public display hive, especially when stained and not painted, select has its place.

I myself don't paint and use mostly select cypress from Rossman. I will say this about their select, Fred Rossman culls for more than just knots he checks the grain as well and you'll get alot less movement with his select wood than his commercial.


----------



## warrior (Nov 21, 2005)

BTW, I really don't think either matters with white pine as white pine has to be the worst wood for exterior use. If it ain't sealed it will rot.


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

SouthTexasJohn said:


> Select hives are better cuts of wood. Commercial has knots, some more than others. As for the extra cost, only you can decide. Welcome to the site. Keep reading. Good luck.


I am working my way through Natural Beekeeping as well as ABC to XYZ of Bee culture. Any other suggestions? I have also been reading the scientific beekeeping website as well.


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

beegineer said:


> Welcome ! Thats great that your wife is interested in being involved it will be something you both can enjoy together . Now all you have to decide is if you are going to treat or go the treatment free path . Enjoy your new hobby , it's addictive .


Thank you, I certainly won the Cosmic Lottery when I met her. I am assuming that we will attempt to treat although we have to keep within an organic ethos, so we may have to select minimally invasive treatments. Luckily we are fairly isolated, but still any time we have to bring bees or queens from the outside we will open ourselves to some risk.


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

wvbeeguy said:


> select wood is virtually knot free, commercial has knots- but is very useable. your money- if you can go to a supplier and compare real product you will get a better idea. Wooden ware is a big investment and will last for many seasons well cared for.


I will do just that, right now when we are talking two hives, the cost is minimal, but as we scale up it is a consideration. Luckily we have a supplier not to far down the road (Humble Abodes in Maine). I am sure we will just pick it up there.


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

warrior said:


> From a purely functional point of view it matters not as long as the boards are sound and flat. Never try to twist or bend a warped board into place it won't work and you'll end up with a racked box that doesn't sit level.
> 
> From an aesthetic point of view if you're doing a garden hive or public display hive, especially when stained and not painted, select has its place.
> 
> I myself don't paint and use mostly select cypress from Rossman. I will say this about their select, Fred Rossman culls for more than just knots he checks the grain as well and you'll get alot less movement with his select wood than his commercial.


It was suggested to paint hives darker colors up here. I am assuming painting will also extend the life some, although with cypress less of a concern, although why pay double when I can get something half priced now and spend the rest of my life repairing it?


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

warrior said:


> BTW, I really don't think either matters with white pine as white pine has to be the worst wood for exterior use. If it ain't sealed it will rot.


Absolutely it will, although being a Mainer, I have a special affinity for Pinus Strobus, you could go so far as to say I pine for it.


----------



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome 77! Even cypress will absorb moisture, swell, warp, crack, split if unprotected.


----------



## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to BeeSource! There's a free bee keeping video course on the Ohio State web site that is good to watch: www.ohiostatebeekeepers.org/beekeeping_class I like the commercial grade (I have also used budget grade with no problems) when I stain them, like the knots showing, and paint the select boxes.


----------



## woodsy (Mar 3, 2013)

Welcome aboard from New Sharon.
We purchased pine hive components from Humble Abode also and the 1st batch of medium 
hives (2) we built were of commercial (B grade) grade pine. These are good quality hives.
The 2nd batch we purchased there were deep box components of commercial grade also.

We painted or stained every other box a dark color . 

Good luck with it


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

woodsy said:


> Welcome aboard from New Sharon.
> Good luck with it


Well Howdy neighbor, not that we cotton to Howdy'ing in these parts. More of an A'yuping I guess. 

Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated, and any data you are willing to supply doubly so.


----------



## woodsy (Mar 3, 2013)

ltr77 said:


> Well Howdy neighbor, not that we cotton to Howdy'ing in these parts. More of an A'yuping I guess.
> 
> Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated, and any data you are willing to supply doubly so.


You probably want advice from the more experienced beekeepers.
Going into my 4th season with bees and still feeling rather new . 
There is a beekeepers club at Maranacook if you haven't joined yet.
That would probably be a good place to get some hands on experience with experienced beekeepers.


----------



## Clayton Huestis (Jan 6, 2013)

Cost is a concern for me to some degree so select boxes aren't a reality if your going to keep many hives, unless you have a money tree out back. Commercial boxes have always been great from every company I have gotten them from. I have mostly gotten budget boxes from Mann Lake just can't beat the free shipping on orders over $100. Combine that with black Friday 11% off deal every year and the savings are very good. I usually buy a minimum of 50 boxes. 2/3rds of them look like they came out of the commercial grade pile. The rest have larger knots but look pretty sound to me. I would say maybe 1-2 boxes out of 50 are a little crappy loose knots or maybe a little off on the joints. Wood glue can fix almost all the flaws in my opinion. A box or 2 out of 100 will crack or have a small issue. But I have 20 year old boxes out in use that are no worse. I think most colonies like some crack and holes they can use anyways. In the end the bees don't care, just how much do you want to spend.


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

Clayton Huestis said:


> Cost is a concern for me to some degree so select boxes aren't a reality if your going to keep many hives, unless you have a money tree out back. Commercial boxes have always been great from every company I have gotten them from. I have mostly gotten budget boxes from Mann Lake just can't beat the free shipping on orders over $100. Combine that with black Friday 11% off deal every year and the savings are very good. I usually buy a minimum of 50 boxes.


Lacking a money tree myself, cost is definitely a concern. It isn't so bad for our initial setup, but in the long term hopefully it is. This next year and winter will be about keeping two hives alive, then hopefully I can split them next spring. I don't want to get over 20 hives in the next 4-5 years as I am learning. 

In terms of the free shipping, we can pick up our hive boxes locally, and the commercial ones are about $14 a piece, as opposed to Mann Lake which is closer to $16. Of course the argument could be made that I will spend that in gas money and time, probably true, but I also don't have to wait several days before getting them in my hands. I also like that they are made right here in Maine. I have a lot to learn before I can even contemplating buying even 50 supers at a time.


----------



## ColbyH (Jun 2, 2014)

welcome to the forums !!!!. we are down south of you in gorham, it is a great hobby for hub and wife, we are hooked, as been said, find a good club and read,read,read, the people on here have been great,


----------



## ltr77 (Feb 16, 2016)

ColbyH said:


> welcome to the forums !!!!. we are down south of you in gorham



Gorham? Might as well be keeping Bees in New York City, you have like 15000 people there. Big City. I try not to go anywhere there are so many people. 
What's it like doing Urban bee keeping?


----------



## ColbyH (Jun 2, 2014)

urban beekeeping ? lol pretty much farms around me. now portland on the other hand. the girls do good around here, last year they just put in a small apple orchard can't wait to see how they do on that.


----------

