Is it a good idea to make hive boxes out of ERCedar? I was thinking that it might control the wax moth . or would it also control the honey bee or add a funny aroma to the honey?
HI Don I don;t know . try just one hive and see how it gos. all of mine are w pine. when the snow comes I make new 9" suppers. so in the spring I chage them out but use the same frames. we have had a dry summer in NH . so I have ben feeding them for 8 week now, I have 2 hives. there doing good. I have never had a wax moth in the hive. but ants, they like honey too :D
I know there is a company that makes them out of cedar, but they use white cedar. http://www.evanscedarbeehives.com/ (http://www.evanscedarbeehives.com/)
I make mine out of poplar because that's what I have the most of. I haven't had any problems with the wax moth, so I can't help you there.
I'm getting some kind of little beetle bugs in my hive. I don't have a picture of them but here are some I took of the bees last week. That's my Son in the suit.
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I had Bees years ago and I would scorch the inside of the supers. that wold kill most of the the infestations. ( DON'T do it in the basement)
If you get a box that the bees will not stay in heat your house with it. splitwood_smiley
Raider Bill, what you are describing sounds like small hive beetles. It's normal to have a few, they hide in the cracks and crevices inside the hive. You can get beetle traps and control it for the most part. It is also been recommended to keep the hive(s) in full sun if possible, as the beetles seem to thrive in the shade.
Quote from: Riggs on October 05, 2012, 08:46:59 AM
Raider Bill, what you are describing sounds like small hive beetles. It's normal to have a few, they hide in the cracks and crevices inside the hive. You can get beetle traps and control it for the most part. It is also been recommended to keep the hive(s) in full sun if possible, as the beetles seem to thrive in the shade.
That full sun idea might work as where I have the hive now it only gets for 10am to 2 full sun. I can do better than that here in the sunshine state. 8)
Most of what I see are on the top cover but I'm sure they are down inside too. My Son mentioned the beetle traps also. He has a hive at his house. Actually mine was split off of his.
We are in the most densely populated county in Florida raising bees! :D We also both have chickens and gardens, Billy has some rabbits.
Both hives were inspected and approved by the State so now they are pretty much untouchable as they are endangered around here.
Thanks , We have just two hives now . Got the most honey this year inspite of the drought. We did have a third hive that we collected from the grain elevator bin .It started working the hive box and then in about two months it disapeared.We got the wax moth bad last year ,had a few beetles but not bad .
Home grown honey is the best. I was wondering if some hemp or wildwoodweed would make the bees mellow or the honey funny.
I'll let you know next spring. I just cut some 4/4 cedar and plan to add a few of my splits into ERC hives next spring. I've always used white pine to build supers and tops but with the moth problems I've been having it can't hurt to try something that's naturally moth repelling. 8)
Great , It will be good to hear from the real tester how things turn out .
I was thinking that only the brood chamber and maybe the bottom board would need the cedar.