Hi all, I’m totally new to bee keeping and expecting delivery of my wife’s 2+ unit in a couple of weeks.
I plan to use tung oil to seal the unit. What are people’s thoughts about building a freestanding cover that is shingled which, keeps all rain and 80% of the sun off of the unit altogether. This would prevent bleaching (or graying) of the natural wood, and increase its life. I’m just curious if that would impact the hive in a negative manner for any reason?
Thanks!
I have painted mine with Koralan hive protection glaze that I can get here in Germany. It meets safety standards for toys and is also tested for bee hives. That said, I have it only out for about a year now, but so far it seems to be working great.
Adding an extra roof is something I thought about, but while it would help with rain, shielding the hive from the sun might be a negative, since the sun makes workers get up and out early. That’s not based on observations, just a personal preference for myself ;-).
It’s simply daylight that gets bees out early. That’s my observations. I’ve seen bees working my dragonfruit flowers while it was only half light.