beehive made out of black locust

Would I have any issues making a topbar hive out of black locust ... besides the fact that it's super hardwood?

very heavy. tends to twist as it dries. not a lot of fun to work with after it has cured. nails or screws can cause splitting, though drilling (also not easy) helps.

if that's what you've got, it could work, but you might want to explore other options. black locust is great wood for a lot of things, but it certainly isn't good for everything.

tel jetson wrote:very heavy. tends to twist as it dries. not a lot of fun to work with after it has cured. nails or screws can cause splitting, though drilling (also not easy) helps.

if that's what you've got, it could work, but you might want to explore other options. black locust is great wood for a lot of things, but it certainly isn't good for everything.

it's invasive and the guy wants to cut down tons of it. and i was thinking about what i needed which is more top bar hives.. i wonder if i can make it like one of those no nail barns? and try and hold it in place while drying.. i know it's more effort then it's prolly worth

I assume you're talking about horizontal top bar hives, in which case the weight will be less of an issue than it would with a vertical hive. and a bit of warping isn't going to ruin the whole thing. you may end up chocking some checks and gaps, but then again, maybe you won't. if you've got the skills to mill it up, you may as well go for it.

how old are the trees?

Good diameter black locust, in good condition, can make fabulous furniture or so I've heard. It is supposed to be as hard as mahogany so can be used for writing desks and work surfaces. It is also some of the very best fire wood you will ever find - very dense and hot burning.

You may struggle to plank it up unless you have good kit though, and it will need seasoning too.

I suspect that you would spend a huge amount of time preparing the timber - it is always worth asking, is this paying me better than doing a few hours paid work and buying the kit. For reference, we just built a perone hive from cheap timber bought from a timber yard for £35 + 4hours labour with the saw bench. No bees for it yet, but we usually have a few swarms in the area each summer. Everything is very late this year.

Michael Cox wrote:Good diameter black locust, in good condition, can make fabulous furniture or so I've heard. It is supposed to be as hard as mahogany so can be used for writing desks and work surfaces. It is also some of the very best fire wood you will ever find - very dense and hot burning.

You may struggle to plank it up unless you have good kit though, and it will need seasoning too.

I suspect that you would spend a huge amount of time preparing the timber - it is always worth asking, is this paying me better than doing a few hours paid work and buying the kit. For reference, we just built a perone hive from cheap timber bought from a timber yard for £35 + 4hours labour with the saw bench. No bees for it yet, but we usually have a few swarms in the area each summer. Everything is very late this year.

im gonna admit.. that like everything else it's more labor of love stubborn then cheaper then buying a kit. I will prolly spend a week missing up the hive and working out design trying to make it all work because im not a stander sause type. i even made a basic hive log .. into a bigger deal then it needed to be.. hollow hive put well place sticks in call it a day but i manage to make it into something huge putting in crap that didnt need to be there it's just my personality. I think i need to find a better use for the black locust because it will prolly harden to fast for me to handle it correctly

If its cut well ,stacked properly and kiln dried it should be ok!