How to protect beehives?

Wooden beehives are exposed to rain and sun all year round, which will cause wood decay and damage. Therefore, the service life of beehives can be extended by wood preservatives.

Moisture (or water) and microorganisms are the main causes of wood decay in beehives. After the wood is damp, it is easily attacked by microorganisms (mainly molds) and rotted. Therefore, in beekeeping production, it is mainly to prevent the beehives from getting wet or to use preservatives on the beehives to prevent mold parasites to prevent the beehives from decaying. At present, measures such as painting the beehives or waxing the beehives can be taken. In terms of preventing molds from invading the beehives, the methods of brushing or dipping the beehives with wood preservatives are used to prevent the beehives from decaying.

Beehive waxing is one of the measures for beehive anticorrosion and protection of beehives, and beekeepers at home and abroad have adopted it. Pass

After waxing, the wood fibers of the beehive are filled with wax, which can reduce the water absorption of the beehive and improve the water retention capacity of the beehive.

When applying wax by dipping, care should be taken that the beehive parts should be fully dry. If the parts are not dry, the moisture will be sealed in the wood when dipping the wax, causing the wood to decay and damage; at the same time, the surface of the parts to be waxed should be cleaned, especially the used or regularly waxed parts of the beehive should remove the surface Propolis, dust and other dirt.

Use preservative-treated wood to make beehives or use preservatives on wooden beehives. At present, there are many kinds of wood preservatives, they have been used for beehive preservation for many years, but the effect is not the same. Some preservatives are harmless to bees and will not significantly contaminate bee products; while some preservatives will cause a large number of bees to die, some will be absorbed by beeswax and remain in beeswax for a long time, and some will contaminate honey. Therefore, beehive preservatives must be selected that are harmless to bees and non-polluting to bee products. Studies on beehive preservatives have shown that treatment of wooden beehives with copper naphthenate, copper 8-hydroxyquinoline and copper chromate is not harmful to bees and does not appreciably contaminate bee products.

The methods of treating beehives with wooden preservatives include brushing method, short soaking method and hot bath-cold bath method.