Yup, cheap plastic, the holes for the screws were pre-drilled almost on  
the edge, one with a crack already (before I screwed it in). All the  
cutouts have a wooden cover with round, polished knobs and rhomboid-shaped  
pieces of wood held by spring-loaded screws that hold the covers in place.  
Intricate and delicate, not designed for heavy use or to be painted.

Maybe unpainted cedar hives fare well in the dry climates of California or  
Australia, but here in NY I cannot imagine untreated wood lasting outdoors  
much, so my first instinct is to paint all the outside surfaces and all  
these movable pieces and knobs are not helping.

Przemek

On Sat, 05 Mar 2016 11:38:54 -0500, Jerry Bromenshenk  
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> [...]
> For safety in our large observation hives, I spend the extra bucks on  
> Lexan.  It flexes, doesn't quickly go brittle, and can usually be  
> cleaned at end of season.  Given your description of the quality of the  
> construction (wooden shims, etc.), I'll bet they went for the cheap  
> plastic.
> J.J. Bromenshenk

--

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