Can't Wax Dip Your Hive? Do This!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video I detail how you can wax coat your hives without a dipping setup for small scale beekeepers. This is not intended to be a replacement for actual dipping as it will not remove moisture from the wood. This is a coating that will act as a moisture barrier for the wood. The wax coating should protect and increase the longevity of your hive equipment. Let me know if you have any questions. If you don't have your own wax, you can purchase authentic beeswax for cheap.
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In Japan people did this over thousands of years and it always works. I use it for my supers which I bought. It’s a pure pine. I just did add wax on it and it holds pretty well. Rain proof and all😊
i used a hot air gun, worked great
I did something similar, ended up using a sponge roller because with the brush it tends to hold more wax as it cools and was difficult to clean. I also found that trying to finish with a torch ended up melting a bunch of the wax, I think a blow dryer would not be hot enough so maybe a heat gun would be best.
I agree, heat gun would probably be best and is what I'll use when I need to coat it again. So far, it's still holding up really well.
I think if you kept the piece to be waxed above the warm pot as you're painting the wax on, you might get a more even coat. And a hair dryer would do better than the torch for the rest.
Hair dryer would definitely be better!
You could pre warm the parts in a low heat oven. Then the wax has time to penetrate, as it would if dipped.
Great job on the video Jeff! This method is most excellent for touching up the sides of migratory lids.
Thank you, Greg! My Hoover Hive will eventually need some touch up and I will use this method for that as well.
A plug-in non-stick presto pot works even better for melting beeswax...
I’ll have to look into that!
Interesting. Never thought of this before!
I’ll be curious to see how it holds up. It’s not a replacement for the hot wax dipping, but I think it can serve a purpose as a protective coating.
Looking good! I need you to come wax my boxes one of these days!
🤣😂
The trick to waxing hives is to add the other ingredient its not just wax.
Couple kinds of wax, heat, and submersion for a period of time is how you really wax treat a box. This was just an experimental alternative and it has held up very well. Won’t have the longevity of true wax dipping, but it’s better than no coating at all. Even in 100+ degree temps through most of July.
Have you thought about wax dipping the components in a smaller tub then assembling?
That would be easier, but this 2 frame hive was pre-assembled. Thanks for stopping in, Jim!
I’m glad to find your video. I’ve been debating between painting with wax or normal outdoor paint. Now I have a challenge to remove a hive before it gets fumigated and I need my box ready to go asap. So I’m gonna copy you and paint it with wax.
Let me know how it goes. Mine has held up well so far. If you get the coat to thick it will melt and run down in the sun. So keep that in mind, never caused issues though.
I see all the comments below and I'm like don't people do research? What you just did does not help at all. The sun Willett that right off on a sunny day!!! You are not doing it right and your not using the right ingredients.
I understand why you might think that, as it was also something I thought would happen. But after a full year including 100+ degree temps there is still a nice thick layer of wax on it. It looks great tbh. It did what I hoped it would do, kept the wood from getting weathered. It was never intended to be the same as a true wax dip where it soaks into the wood. Kamon Reynolds has some great videos on a proper wax treatment of wooden boxes.
@@LawsonsCreekApiary please do a 1 yr review of the amazing magical box!!!!
That was always the plan. I'll even do a 5yr update on it when the time comes. Hahaha
Japanese bee keepers have been doing this method for thousand of years and it works for them. there are many videos if you search for them.
Not sure why people want to put chemical in everything and also make things hard when simple, tried and true options are out there. Have you heard of 80/20 rule? If you get 80% of the result with 20% of the work/resources, that is a win.
That's awesome! Thanks for stopping by.