Treated Bottom Boards?

[beek1951]

I have been using treated bottom boards for 20 years, but recently
another beekeeper went crazy when he saw them. He said they were
harmful to the bees and disqualified you from an 'organic' honey classification.
Has anyone else had problems, or is this just some more bee-hugger nonsense?

[divemaster1963]

It all depends on the ingredents of the treatment. becasue when the bees walk over it the wood may be leaching it and they walk across the comb. I let the bottom boards go natural. the oils from the bees coat the wood any how.


John

[AllenF]

You are not going to find organic honey here in the U.S.  So the big worry would be what the chemicals are doing to the bees and when chemicals are making the way into the honey.   I used green treated wood to build my chicken and rabbit pens several years ago.   I was feeding the rabbit in the brooder pen and there was saw dust everywhere where some carpenter bees were boring the crap out of it.   I guess they got tired of eating my house.  But the green treated wood lost its killing properties.   

[divemaster1963]

I have been using treated bottom boards for 20 years, but recently
another beekeeper went crazy when he saw them. He said they were
harmful to the bees and disqualified you from an 'organic' honey classification.
Has anyone else had problems, or is this just some more bee-hugger nonsense?

I hate it when stores or people say the word organic honey. They only way you can state that it is organic is if you have a area that is 25 miles raduis around your hives and know what is planted and cared for on the area. Bees travel and hit numerous places for pollen and nectur.

John

[beek1951]

Well, I mainly go by experience and what works. I have seen some
gawdawful homemade bottom boards in my time and have never had
problems with the modern treated bottom boards. I have some bottoms
that are 40 years old and made of evreything from masonite to plastic
signs. I do bee removals and have seen bees living in fuel tanks, paint cans,
and machinery; so I pretty much discount all the hand-wringing.

[divemaster1963]

there is a post somewhere on board that showed a hive in a truck carer that had pesticides in it with the hive. 

Bees will be bees.

John

[BlueBee]

If your bottom boards were pressure treated 20 years ago, they were probably treated with CCA preservative; chromated copper arsenate.  Personally I wouldn’t call anything with arsenic “organic” or a good place to store food.

[beek1951]

No Blue, these are fairly new. I've been using treated bottoms for about 20 years.
All I nkow is it works for me and I haven't seen hive failures due to the treated wood.

[Michael Bush]

The green pressure treated stuff is treated with insecticide.  The ones that are painted with Copper Naphthanate are not, but there are still issues.

http://128.104.77.228/documnts/pdf1984/kalni84a.pdf