# Pressure treated for hive stands



## Glenn (Feb 10, 2015)

Hello all, 

I'm new to beekeeping and pretty much ready to set-up my two hives in the back yard. I made two hive stands out of pressure treated wood, 10 inch lag bolts for legs with inverted PVC caps on the top of the legs to be fill with high temperature grease (to keep the ants out of the hive.) It's my understanding the pesticide used in pressure treated wood these days should only affect insects that burrow into the wood, and not those that simply land on it and touch the surface. My question is, should I leave the pressure treated wood on the stand as is or should I coat it with something like Thompson's Clear Water Seal, some other type of deck stain preservative, or paint?

Thanks in advance,


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

I paint all my pressure treated wood even not around the bees. Sun degrades the wood and moisture makes it swell, warp and split.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Paint helps deter carpenter bees also. I also paint pressure treated wood like AmericasBeekeeper does. The paint makes the stands last a lot longer.


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## Dunkel (Jun 12, 2009)

It will take a coating better this fall after it has dried out somewhat. But it is better to do it before you place bees there. The Thompsons is a waste of time imho.


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## GZB (Jan 29, 2013)

I seal all my cuts at the very least with a good deck preservative (clear or tinted). The pressure treating only gets just so deep. If you will eventually paint the wood, seal only the cuts and not the faces. As stated, PT will take paint better after weathering 6-12 months.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

I hope you used stainless lag bolts or coat. The new pressure treated has a high acid in it and eat just galvaned fasteners. There has been cases of the wrong one failing with in 6 months to a year. .
david


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

The older method of pressure treating (containing arsenic) has been/is being phased out in favor of cupric sulfate (IIRC). Cupric = copper. It has long been known that the use of dissimilar metals together can cause increased corrosion, especially when combined with moisture. Electricians and plumbers are well aware of this already, now carpenters need to be as well. Fasteners must be chosen carefully. The wrong fastener may fail prematurely.

Coating the wood may extend its durability, as others have noted. Also, by coating it and preventing the absorption of moisture, if the wrong type of fastener has already been used, then the length of time before failure occurs -may- be extended (but that is supposition on my part).


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I wouldn't worry about the bees landing on PT material. That said, I usually build a stand in the winter and then stain it in the spring before I put them out under hives. I like the additional coating that the stain offers and they dry off quicker.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I don't paint it. It doesn't take paint very well when it's new. After it dries a bit it will, but I still don't paint it. I only use it for stands and you really don't see bees hanging out that much on the stands...


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## Glenn (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks a bunch folks. Appreciate all your input.


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## tazke (Mar 23, 2015)

Pressure treated lumber companies state something like "allow to dry 60 to 90 days before painting" heck I didn't know last week I needed another stand let alone two or three months ago.

I don't paint then and they hold up fine.

I do seal the bottom of the legs by soaking them in a bucket with some oil based sealer.


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## Cedar Hill (Jan 27, 2009)

I don't use pressure treated wood of any sort for stands or anything bee related. Regardless of what a company may say, pt wood is made to keep insects away. Some beeks use screened bottom boards on top of the pressure treated hive stands. Consequently, those particular hives_ tend _to grow slower and remain weaker than those hives not on pt stands. OMTCW


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

Cedar Hill said:


> those particular hives_ tend _to grow slower and remain weaker than those hives not on pt stands. OMTCW


I bought 3 sets of treated migratory covers http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/WW-364.html and treated bottom boards http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/WW-322.html recently to try. I've got 25 versions of the non-treated bottom boards and outer covers from various folks but many are starting to fail (especially the bottom boards) so I wanted to try something else for myself. I'm not saying you're not right, and my sample is too small to claim either way even after a few years of trying it. But, if there's no clear problem in my experience I'll keep buying them. I seriously doubt Mann Lake would offer them if there was known problems with those components killing or stunting bee hives.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Those are copper napthenate, not the same as the treated lumber at the lumber yard. Even then...

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1984/kalni84a.pdf


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## Glenn (Feb 10, 2015)

Interesting read provided by Michael Bush. I'm using YellaWood purchased at Home Depot. It is pressure treated using Micronized Copper Azole. I did not coat the pressure treated hive stands.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

Michael Bush said:


> Those are copper napthenate, not the same as the treated lumber at the lumber yard. Even then...
> 
> http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1984/kalni84a.pdf


Thanks for that link, that was -very- informative.


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