Wooden beehives: components, choice of wood, gluing, finishing

I ended up writing about beehives following a discussion about adhesives. Matefy Csaba from Szolvegy Târgu Mureș told me that they have Tiszabond adhesives very suitable for such constructions. Until he drew my attention to this, I had not thought about the need for materials with very good outdoor resistance. The hives sit outside in the field from spring to autumn, so they need to be very strong. In addition, they need to be protected with materials that won't harm bees and honey. And so I started researching and before I tell you about hive adhesives, I'll tell you what I learned about wooden hives and their manufacture.

What is a beehive and how wooden beehives came into being

I can tell you, after a few days of documenting hives, that beekeeping is a very complex field. It has its own language (I sometimes felt like I needed a translator), clear rules and lots of more or less controversial inventions and innovations. So it's very hard, as a non-expert in the field, to go into details because the probability of saying something wrong is very high. So I will stick to general information.

Bees have not always lived in the man-made wooden hives we see these days in the rapeseed fields or the field of salcamores. In the past, they were free in the wild, nesting in tree hollows, rock crevices or other places sheltered from the scorching sun, wind and weather. People discovered the honey produced by the bees in these nests and began harvesting it, which destroyed the nest.

"Dedicated" to honey, people began to follow the bees and think of a way to build them shelters to make it easier for them to reach the honey. The first shelters were made of wood and clay, called "știubeie" or "buduroaie". The bees built their nests inside out of wax beams attached to the walls. Unfortunately, these nests were also destroyed when the honey was collected.

It wasn't until the early 1800s in Russia that the first wooden hive with movable frames was built, allowing honey to be harvested without destroying the hive. Since then, hive construction has been continuously improved, with new designs and construction materials appearing. Regardless of the hive variants that have appeared, the basic elements have remained the same.

Component elements

The main elements that make up a hive are:

• The cover - a wooden frame with a frame frame, covered with galvanized sheet metal, covering the entire hive
• Feeding floor - is a device so constructed that sugar syrup can be put on it to feed the bees in winter or during long rainy periods. Its construction depends on the type of hive;
• Frames - wooden frames on which the artificial beeswax honeycombs are fixed and on which the nest's honeycombs will develop;
• The body - is basically the box in which all the other elements of the hive are, without the lid and bottom. Basically, the 4 side walls laid and joined together depending on the type of hive;
• Bottom - protects the bottom of the hive and is so constructed to allow room for bees to enter and exit the hive. The place is called a warp and must be a certain size because if it is too small, the bees close it with wax, and if it is too big, they form combs;
• Wrapping device
• Diaphragm

In terms of appearance and construction there are 3 main types of hives: vertical, horizontal and small. These have very clearly defined dimensions, having been standardised since the 1950s. There are also other types of hives (multi-stacked, darting), and the advantages and disadvantages of using one or the other are intensely debated on beekeepers' forums. Each beekeeper relates the performance of the hive types to their own achievements, which leads me to believe that their opinions are quite subjective. It should be noted that in factories hives are not built according to beekeepers' designs but according to recognised standards.

How to choose the wood for making the hive

Various types of wood can be used for the construction of beehives depending on availability and the country where they are built. The choice is made according to cost, weight and availability. In our country, the most commonly used wood is softwood (spruce and fir) and lime wood. From the bees' point of view, any solid wood can be used and there are no studies to show that they would be bothered by tannin or exotic wood.

Those who are in the business of making wooden beehives use in their construction solid wood panels of molid. The wood is ground into teeth for the extension of the elements, and these are then glued, in presses, with moisture-resistant adhesive.

There are tutorials that show the construction of a beehive using plywood or other wood derivatives. It should be noted that it is possible for these derivatives to emit formaldehyde, a substance harmful to bees. Formaldehyde emissions occur from ureoformaldehyde adhesives used in wood-based panels.

Characteristics of adhesives used in hive construction

The adhesives used to make the hives must be from the outdoor range, i.e. in class D3 or D4. The requirement is to be moisture resistant, waterproof and elastic.

I said at the beginning that everything started from the discussion with the director of Szolvegy Târgu Mures. I must confess that at first we did not understand the interest in this market segment considering the consumption much too small. I thought it was the gluing of elements, an operation with very low consumption, even this sometimes replaced by staples or screws.

Once I realised that wooden panels were used in mass production, I understood the importance of glue. Choosing one without moisture resistance or less elastic can endanger the life of bee families. In winter or in very wet periods the adhesive can fail and water can enter the hive. And an adhesive without elasticity can be a source of cracks in the hot summer sun.

Szolvegy advises producers of wooden hives Tiszabond D3D adhesive, highly elastic, waterproof and resistant to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. They also offer D4 adhesive - Tiszabond 1kD4D one-component polyurethane adhesive, with very good outdoor properties and resistance, but more expensive than D3D. However, the amount of adhesive used to make a hive is small, the price difference per hive becomes insignificant.

Finishing the hives

Few beekeepers choose to use dummy hives. The amount of honey collected from single hives, even if the area has a very rich flora, is much less than that collected in pastoral beekeeping. In this case the hives are moved from place to place where there are flowers to be pollinated. The work starts in April, when the rapeseed fields are in bloom, and continues until October.

All this time the hives are outside and the finish must protect them as well as possible. The wood is coated with outdoor resistant water-based paintsin light, pastel colours. The pigments give resistance to UV radiation, and the light colours do not favour the absorption of radiation that would increase the temperature inside the hive. The top is covered with sheet metal, greatly reducing the possibility of water entering the hive.

Building beehives as a DIY project

In addition to factories that build hives, there are many hobbyists who want to make their own. For them there are plenty of tutorials and construction plans. If you are such a person you can find inspiration here.

However, before you start building hives and beekeeping, it's best to do your homework. It is a very serious job, bees are sensitive and a small mistake can kill a whole family. But there are many beekeepers willing to share their experience, so I can only wish you good luck!