Irish Bees and Beekeeping

hey ya,

i to spent weeks looking into this aswell. i had heard of a wood preservative called Cuprinol. i emailed them and they said they didnt have any insecticide free stuff, but i have since found the following:

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=535

http://www.britishbee.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2136

http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-198720.html

so there r beekeepers out there using this stuff and it seems to be ok. i to decided to use it but you have to give 6/8 weeks for the stuff to dry in fully, probably to late to use now if you decide to use it your self

you could also try beeswax dissolved in linseed oil, that seems to work quiet well to

hope this helps!

Hi, I've been using Cuprinol Clear for the last couple of years - two coats and then a wood stain called sikkens. it seems to work well. give the boxes a couple of weeks in a dry, well aired place to ensure that there's no residue and you should be ok. The only absolute requirement is to make sure you don't coat the inside of the hive and to minimise any seeping on the top edges of the boxes. In the past beekeepers used a variety of lead based gloss paints as protection (same paints as house paints) - didn't harm the bees at all.

Best of luck!