In a message dated 9/28/98 9:12:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
 
> I use rabbet jointed corners, not finger laps, and dip with a mix of linseed
>  oil, varsol, and copper naphthenate (one percent copper in the dip for
>  boxes).  The lumber I have been using has always been seven eighths
>  thickness (my apologies to metric bee-l members:  Canada is supposedly
>  metric, but lumber is one thing that never changed over).
>
>  My past experience with poplar boards is that they have to be fastened
still
>  green before they warp.  I expect that they would dry straight once in a
>  box, but I would sure appreciate the advice of someone who has tried it
>  before I make 500 possibly garbage boxes.
 
    If you are talking poplar as in aspen or cottonwood - never!  It's
definitely junk wood.
 
    But if you mean yellow poplar, or tulip poplar, I'd go for it. A lot of
cabinet work is based on a yellow poplar foundation (pretty much regarded as
interchangeable with white pine), and it is a pop-u-lar siding wood in the
midwest. It's nice wood to work, and will not split near as much as spruce.
 
    Dipping in linseed oil or paint will solve much of the warpage problem
with any kind of wood. Many beekeepers mistakenly paint only the outsides of
the hives, not realizing that this makes an imbalance in moisture transfer
through the wood and encouraging warping. I have rarely seen any warped supers
if they were dipped in a good quality paint.  As long as the paint is dry, the
bees don't care whether the wood is painted or not.
 
[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
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