Hi All,

I'm starting to have some out apiaries and have my first pallet of
woodenware and I'm thinking about purchasing one of the wood brands.
Any idea if there is variation in the quality of the products or
between electric/propane/other?  I only have 50-100 hive bodies to
brand.

I ran across these links in a search of some beekeeping forum archives:
http://www.novatoolco.com/Brandingiron-BeeHive.htm
http://www.brandingirons.com/packages.html
http://www.brandnew.net/estore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=7&cat=Beekeepers%3Cbr%3EBeehive+Branders
http://www.branding-irons.biz/index.html
http://www.brand-first.com/
http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search.aspx?query=electric%20branding%20irons


I have some naive questions:

For small timers, is the main purpose of branding for identification
in case of theft?  (My state has no hive labeling laws, but somebody
mentioned that Florida did)  I assume that in commercial pollination
(almonds), that pallets of bees could get mixed up.

I currently label all my hives with a unique ID on laminated paper
stapled to the back of the hive bodies (so that when I do newspaper
combines or whatever the book keeping is easier).  I tend to label by
queen, and can move the ID from nuc to deep.

Do you brand before or after painting?

Do you brand all 4 sides? (or only the 4 exposed sides of a pallet?)

Is there a reason to brand frames?  (Maybe if I ever used my friend's
uncapper, it might help in a honey house?) I saw one person had an
iron with moveable letters and burnt the frame creation/comb removal
into the frame.  My frames are currently labeled with a marker with
the year(s) that the frames were introduced/new foundation.  (I ran
some experiments, so I also have 2 digit codes for foundation type,
and also mark super frames so I know if it's cut comb, etc)  The
markers fade after a couple years and the propolis/wax don't help.  I
can imagine hot brand + probolis/wax wood can be tricky...

Is there anybody out there with an experience to share where some
aspect of branding mattered/helped?

Are there any rules of thumb for branding cedar/pine/cypress that I
should know about (like fire hazard?  Anybody keep a spray bottle of
water to prevent scorching or anything else around in case? )


Best,
Blair

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