Hi  all

Cedar has an advantage that no one has yet mentioned...

It is very much less prone to rot, as a result it is tolerant of not being
treated with preservative as often as is recommended.

In UK we do not use paint on hive boxes (although some of the more modern
paints would stay on). I am surprised by mention of hive tool damage as I
have no experiance of this or ever seen any evidence of it.

Michael mentioned oak... twenty years ago there was a small scale hive
manufacturer in UK that made National hives in oak and my company made
hardwood floors (bottom boards) (oak, beech and various exotic hardwoods
that came from the barfitting trade).

Murray mentioned high density polystyrene foam... I think the future lies
along this course, but we need a few years experiance under our belts before
we can really understand the benefits.

I have had many attempts with plywood, none of which came up to scratch, a
mixture of 50% ply and 50% softwood works well, is inexpensive and is not
too heavy. 100% ply does not breath well enough (at least for UK
conditions).


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman... G8MZY
Beekeeping & Bee Breeding Website
Email: [log in to unmask] or  [log in to unmask]
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman & http://www.dave-cushman.net

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::