Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: paus on January 11, 2024, 12:54:37 pm
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I came to rest after getting ready for cold weather and I looked at facebook and on one of the bee entries there was a picture of someone that had just finished their winter work cutting out hive boxes. All of the pictures showed wood with the color of treated wood. Is the wood treatment used now safe for making bee equipment?
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> Is the wood treatment used now safe for making bee equipment?
No. It's not safe for insects. It might be better than the older green one and better than the old creosote. But not safe.
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Modern treated wood primarily uses borates rather than arsenates. If sealed and on parts bees wouldn't chew it would be ok. If they chew on it, it would kill them as effectively as borax or boric acid.
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Modern treated wood primarily uses borates rather than arsenates. If sealed and on parts bees wouldn't chew it would be ok. If they chew on it, it would kill them as effectively as borax or boric acid.
What about any emitted vapors? It would bee neat if somehow, by accident, it didn't affect the bees but drove the parasites off.
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I?ve been using treated wood for years but only on external parts of hives. Bottom board cleats, parts of hive stands, box handles etc. The timber has always been sealed before use. I wouldn?t feel comfortable using this type of timber for boxes or lids. We have enough chemical and pesticide issues in the environment as it is.
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Boric acid is for all practical purposes not volatile so no vapor would bee emitted. Unless heated.
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I could see using them for stands and bottom board. Anywhere the bees could come into contact I would paint.