Kind Of Wood Width Of Board Etc
Categories:
HIVES.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
Of the kinds of wood for hives, pine is preferable, still other kinds
will do; I have no faith in bees liking one kind better than another,
and less likely to leave on that account. Hemlock is cheaper, and used
to a great extent; when _perfectly sound_ is as good as anything, but
is very liable to split, even after the bees have been in them some
time. It should be used only when better wood cannot be obtained. Bass
wo
d when used for hives should _always be painted_, and then will be
very liable to warp from the moisture arising from the bees inside.
When not painted outside, and allowed to get wet, if only for a few
hours, so much moisture is absorbed that it will bend outward, and
cleave from the combs and crack them. A few days of dry weather will
relieve the outside of water, and the inside kept moist by the bees,
the bending will be reversed, and the combs pressed inward, keeping the
bees fixing that which will not "stay fixed." Perhaps there is wood as
suitable or better than pine, but it is not as common.