Box treatment

[Sledin]

I just bought a bunch of new deep boxes and had the thought of just treating the assembled boxes by charing the outside with a tiger torch.
Anybody do that?
Or how do you wax treat them?
I?d rather not use paint.


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[yes2matt]

I have never done this because I don't have the equipment,
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesdipping.htm

what I have done is painted with "boiled linseed oil" heated enough to melt in some beeswax, painted on hot.  Latex paint from the mistint section is easier and cheaper, for me.

On the inside, I have I have an oscillating tool, and a rasp bit for it, and I scour the inside of the box to encourage the bees to deposit propolis. Cf. T Seeley's recent research. While I'm at it, I route a 1/4" groove in the center of each short side, for the purpose of just-in-case I need to put in a divider board someday, I don't have to route inside an assembled box, and I don't have to go searching the yard for a box with a groove, because they all have it. :)

[Acebird]

I just bought a bunch of new deep boxes and had the thought of just treating the assembled boxes by charing the outside with a tiger torch.
Anybody do that?

Lauri on the other site is famous for doing this.

[Sledin]

I just bought a bunch of new deep boxes and had the thought of just treating the assembled boxes by charing the outside with a tiger torch.
Anybody do that?

Lauri on the other site is famous for doing this.

Any problem with doing it?
I?m in Canada so the dark colour might be good.
Paint sounds like too much work and too slow.
And justifying a new tool is good too.


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[Oldbeavo]

Hot dipping in bees wax and linseed oil will preserve them for years.
If dipped at 150 degrees for 6-10 minutes it will boil the moisture out of the wood and as the box cools it will suck the wax into the wood. Once cooled a quick dip back to put a coat of wax on the outside will preserve it for years. Local BK here gets about 12-15 years out of this process.
We do the 6-10 minutes and let the wax soak in but once dry but still hot we coat with quick dry paving paint, wait a few minutes for it to dry and recoat with another coat of paint.
You can go from raw box to dipped and 2 coats of paint in !2-14 minutes.

[yes2matt]

Hot dipping in bees wax and linseed oil will preserve them for years.
If dipped at 150 degrees for 6-10 minutes it will boil the moisture out of the wood and as the box cools it will suck the wax into the wood. Once cooled a quick dip back to put a coat of wax on the outside will preserve it for years. Local BK here gets about 12-15 years out of this process.
We do the 6-10 minutes and let the wax soak in but once dry but still hot we coat with quick dry paving paint, wait a few minutes for it to dry and recoat with another coat of paint.
You can go from raw box to dipped and 2 coats of paint in !2-14 minutes.

What is your wax:oil ratio?   

[iddee]

This is what I like to use.

https://ecowoodtreatment.com/

[saltybluegrass]

This is what I like to use.

https://ecowoodtreatment.com/

I?m going to confirm in real time the quote you use as your signature.
I started a locksmith business on the skin of my teeth with videos and questions really before the internet blew up. 2007.
When I took on a partner in 2009 that brought years of experience, he continued to ask me how and why I use certain procedures.
I told him that no one taught me different. He adopted many ways I used into his arsenal.
So yes. Don?t listen to any naysayers- Forge Ahead and you may create a million dollar business as I did. Or something better!!

[CoolBees]

This is what I like to use.

https://ecowoodtreatment.com/

Iddee - thank you for the recommendation. Can you say how long the boxes typically last with this treatment?

[Ben Framed]

Some good suggestions here from iddee and yestomatt (with Mr Bushes link) . You might also like this method By kamon Reynolds of Tennessee.

https://youtu.be/HX9T7j8dfnc

[BeeMaster2]

This is what I like to use.

https://ecowoodtreatment.com/

Iddee,
That sounds like it is nothing more than liquid iron.
Liquid iron (used for trees and certain plants) turns wood a gray silvery color just like it was aged in the weather a long time. I have used it on wood and it turns it gray in minutes.
Jim Altmiller

[Oldbeavo]

With the price of bees wax being so high we use paraffin and microcrystaline wax in a 75/ 25 ratio.
My friend is still using bees wax and linseed, I will get his ratio.
Bees wax in Australia at present A$16+ per kilo, not refined. Which is about US$5.00 per pound.

[iddee]

Cool, he have been using it 8 or 9 years now, with no visible damage.

[Acebird]

Any problem with doing it?
I?m in Canada so the dark colour might be good.

She lives in Oregon near the Canadian boarder and it is quite wet.  You will have to ask her how long it last.  Trees that are burnt seem to last a long time after a forest fire.

[CoolBees]

Cool, he have been using it 8 or 9 years now, with no visible damage.

Thank you Sir.

[Oldbeavo]

Just watched the video.
We run the wax at 300 degrees F, when the box is removed the wax soaks in quicker and so can be painted once the wax has soaked in.
If you use cheap welding gloves the heat does not come through them.
Same principle as the video.

[yes2matt]

With the price of bees wax being so high we use paraffin and microcrystaline wax in a 75/ 25 ratio.
My friend is still using bees wax and linseed, I will get his ratio.
Bees wax in Australia at present A$16+ per kilo, not refined. Which is about US$5.00 per pound.

Sorry to be dull, but to clarify, thats 75 wax to 25 oil?
Beeswax is expensive here too, as is boiled linseed oil. And a dip would take a lot of both. That's why I have been using paint. Tho I might look up Iddee's solution.

[iddee]

`Matt, we sell it at Beez Needz, and you can see what the hives look like after time.

[Michael Bush]

The reference to 150 degrees above is centigrade.

[Oldbeavo]

Yes2matt
The ratio is 75% paraffin wax and 25% Microcrystaline wax.
In Australia, microcrystalline is more than twice the price of paraffin. If you could get microcrystalline cheaper then you can increase the amount of micro to up to 50%.
Some BK's have gone lower than 25% micro but you run the risk of the paraffin bleeding out in hot weather.
Your dipper needs to be twice the depth of the wax it holds, our dipper is 26" deep (660mm) and has a lid. The lid has some mesh weld under it deep enough to hold the box under the wax.
The lid is essential to hold the heat in while heating up and in use.

[Oldbeavo]

For those interested the bees wax - linseed oil mix for hot dipping is; 20kg wax and 5 litres of linseed. these are dipped for 10 min, let cool  and redipped , in and out just to add a sealing layer.
They expect to get 15 years from this process.