Best form of protection for the external of the hive

Hi I live in Glasgow in Scotland and the weather here is pretty harsh most of the year. Heavy rain and strong winds wich gives you horrible driving rain. I’m looking to protect the outside of my flow hive but I’m not 100% sure what product to use. I want to keep the look of the cedar but still need some hardcore protection. Any ideas? Also do I need to attach each component of the flow hive together or just stack them? I’m thinking strong winds. I’m a complete novice and want to do as much prep work as I can before getting my bees.

And help would be great thanks

There was post these days where someone tied his boxes together with a screw at the edge of the boxes and wire running around the screws. Normally you’ll just stack them, but in case of heavy winds you might find that useful.
Do you have the possibility to build a roof over your hives? Like a carport or something like that?

There has been quite a bit of discussion on this topic. Your options…

  • cargo strap the hive to a cinder block or pallett. (One of most common solutions)
  • drive anchors into ground and strap to anchors (overkill, unless you expect a hurricane)
  • let the bees weigh the boxes down with honey and brood and glue them together with propolis (the other common solution)
  • spring clips
  • other ideas… I have my own solution

Here is a link to my solution…
http://forum.honeyflow.com/t/simple-way-to-secure-hive-sections-during-strong-winds/6383/16

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Thank you for the input and speedy reply. I have a roof on the hive and I’m thinking some stainless tower bolts I’ve been thinking about it but failing that. One of the above options are just as good. Any ideas on what to coat the hive with to protect it?

I think you should be fine coating it with Tung Oil, just make sure it is 100% natural, without mineral spirits or any toxic additives. There are many cedar hives in the UK that are not coated with anything at all. They weather to a nice silver grey colour, and they don’t rot. Even if you don’t coat it, you can expect the hive to last 15-20 years if you treat it carefully (don’t drop it, split it with your hive tool, etc).

Fantastic! I thought it would be fine. Really appreciate the feed back.