Site Search |
Plywood to Build Beehive Components
The bees don't seem to mind what the hive is made from.
Does plywood emit any chemicals that would be harmful to the bees or leave any traces in the honey?
I haven't heard of anything like that, provided of course that the plywood hasn't been treated with any type of preservative. I have used 3/4" plywood to build hive boxes, sometimes used plywood which has varnish or paint on it and never had any trouble. I've even been given old bookcases, which were ready for the trash, and cut them up to recycle them as beehives.
Sometimes when I'm considering questions like this I stop and ask myself, "What would the bees do?" By which I mean, if they encountered this situation themselves would they use an abandoned plywood box if they found one. I've seen bee colonies successfully living in many different situations and a plywood box would seem to be ideal.
I don't consider contamination of honey a problem, it may be naive but it seems to me if the bees aren't effected by it then it's unlikely to be a problem for humans eating their honey.
The Bee Guy
