Stainless steel or galvanized screws?

[Beelab]

I noticed that most bee box building kits come with stainless steel screws.
Some kits I mail ordered recently didn?t come with screws and all I have at home are galvanized screws. Are these ok to use, also for lids and bottom boards?

[BeeMaster2]

They will do a good job, just a matter of how long they will last. A lot has to do with your weather. If it is very dry, they both will out last the wood. Even in wet humid weather like I have they will probably out last the wood. Hopefully you used glue in the finger joints and it will not matter.
Jim

[TheHoneyPump]

How long do you want it to last?   Once the bees treat the wood, the wood will last 30+ years.  I have some such boxes that were put together with ardox nails.  The wood is good as are the nails.
modern coatings on fasteners are far superior now to what we had those many years ago.  As long is you choose a decent quality coating it will last just fine. Stainless it?s not necessary in my opinion.  I still use ardox spiral nails OR ceramic deck screws nowadays.

[Beelab]

I never used glue in the finger joints, so I should?
However, these are nuc box flat packs without finger joints, just a recess is cut where the edges come together. Gorilla glue ok?

We do have wet seasons. I use prime quality house paint on hoop pine boxes. The paint seals any gaps pretty well.

[BeeMaster2]

For rabbit joint boxes, like you described, I prefer just using the screws. If necessary I can remove and replace them.
Jim

[blackforest beekeeper]

They will do a good job, just a matter of how long they will last. A lot has to do with your weather. If it is very dry, they both will out last the wood. Even in wet humid weather like I have they will probably out last the wood. Hopefully you used glue in the finger joints and it will not matter.
Jim

That`s what I would say: They don`t have to last longer than the wood, so... the higher expense for stainless is just not worth it.

[Acebird]

I never used glue in the finger joints, so I should?

I glue the finger joints but I don't glue frames.  The finger joints are exposed to weather and the joint is the weakest link for rotting.

[blackforest beekeeper]

finger joints are not really the best choice at that place.

glueing well there will keep moisture out.

[Sour Kraut]

finger joints are not really the best choice at that place.

REALLY  ?????????

So all the major manufacturers have been using a not-best-choice joint for 100 years + ???

[robirot]

Yes,, dovetail is better.
Else Flfinger joints.
Rabbets are way worse.

Dor the ones i bought (i run just a couple in wood, other in styrofoam) i really hate the ones that have only a recess.
A couple i build myself, got douple sided rabbets, thats ok, but nowhere near Finger joints.

I know in germany a couple people want to tell that a rabbet is the best, arguing that you expose more grain, but if you treat them propper (best wax dip them) it doesn't matter. Also if you work your boxes a little harder a rabbet can'tvtake up all the hits, e.g. when shaking packages, over time, as a finger joint can.

[blackforest beekeeper]

Yes.
Probably because it is the easiest way. Maybe the cheapest once you got the machinerie.

I make all my boxes myself, so I don`t have first-hand-experience with finger-joints.

But a friend of mine with some 300 hives + 200 nucs has a lot of boxes. Maybe half are finger-jointed, the other half - I don`t know what it`s called. Sort of a cutout as I do it myself.

The fingerjoints on the corners get wet in the rain easily. The water goes in a lot faster than in a solid board. Esp. if not glued well or not painted (painting makes a tupperware out of any box anyway). It swells up in the corners more than the rest. So you get cracks, crevices asf.
So when he compares the kind of constructions after some 10 years or so, he just gotto look at the outcome to know what he`s gonna buy to replace the finger-jointed ones.

Do you honestly think only because things have been done so and so for so and so long on this world, esp. in any kind of construction, makes them "the best"?
I got a car, has been running for 40 years now.
(old!) tractors run for almost ever.
Planes get really old,too.
just some examples.
Do you think it necessary for a car to get replaced sooner than that? Best construction? I am sure it can done better.
But then ... not so many new cars sold. The new car would cost more if built better, so the other manufacturers might sell more when making things in a cheaper way....
just as an example for some reasons for things not being done as well as they could be done.

don`t know about the finger-joints. more showy? cheaper to make? something like that.

[blackforest beekeeper]

well, I always think unpainted, undipped boxes. that is where an outdoor-suited wood-construction matters most.
For me, for easy building myself, for rough handling and moisture-endurance, rabbets i consider best of all. I have never managed to throw a box apart either. Got hammers that big, but then the wood will go any place, I assume.

[Acebird]

Some kits I mail ordered recently didn?t come with screws and all I have at home are galvanized screws.

I don't know any american supplier that sends screws.  Some send nothing and some might have nails.

[Dallasbeek]

Definitely not Gorilla Glue.  It expands as it cures.  Tite Bond II or Tite Bond III work well.

[beepro]

Well, you can definitely go to your local hardware store to buy the screws you want to
use.  I use the plastic coated deck screws on all of my pine nuc hives.  The weather does not
affect these screws at all.

If you are going to use glue then use the tite bond -3 glue because it is water proof also.  I use a clear water base
water proof sealer on the pine hives covering the deck screws to form a water proof seal too.

[cao]

I just use butt joints and screws with Titebond III glue for my boxes.  I think any screws will do.  In a pinch, I have even used drywall screws.  With a good coat of paint, the screws will not rust for years.  I've always wondered what the big deal is with coated nails and screws. The only exposed part is the head and it gets either scratched by the bit or smashed by the hammer.   

[BeeMaster2]

Tightbond II is a white glue and white glue is designed for flat grain to flat grain, not to end grain. Gorilla glue is designed for flat grain and end grain. The trick with gorilla glue is that it has to held in place until it dries. This can bee done with clamps, screws or nails. Finger joints have lots of flat grain to flat grain. Rabbit joints are all flat grain to end grain.
Jim

[beepro]

Over time like in 5 years, on a neglected hive, the paint will be peeled off.  This
will expose the screw/nail heads to the elements.  Once the wood has a small crack
by the nail then an not coated nails/screws will leak out a chemical reacting to the rain water smearing the wood surface making it a dull and ugly grayish look.  A good example is the pine board box using the regular dark drywall screws.  I did not coat the hive boxes after finish assembly this Spring.  Put the boxes to use and the Spring rains hit the front and back of these boxes.   They're not  the shiny pine hive boxes anymore.  The coated deck screw is what I'm using from now on.

[paus]

Just a thought about end grain exposed.  I make boxes with a compound dado joint and there is only 3/8"exposed. I use deck screws and titebond III.  This is the fastest to build unless a Butt joint or modified butt joint as were used on some boxes I bought.  I made a few boxes a couple of years ago  using beveled ends and biscuits this is slow but no end grain shows.