I ordered two boxes of bees and have made a couple of top bar hives. Now I need some bees wax to line the bars .
Bees wax cost $17 a pound in the craft stores. Wounder could I use the wax from a toilet wax ring ?
Bee wax
You may want to check the ingredients in the toilet ring - My guess is it isn't all beeswax (if any) and may contain paraffin or other petroleum product. You can order beeswax relatively inexpensively on some of the beekeeping online stores. Here's Dadant's selection. From $5.52-6.56 http://www.dadant.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=77
Take a look around on Etsy and Ebay too.
We just used two empty frames of comb, melted the wax in a double boiler, strained through a flour sack towel (Walmart 5 for $5) then I used a cheap craft paint brush to paint the starter strip. If you are just getting started, check with members of your bee club or a neighboring beekeeper for extra wax.
Thanks for the reply, I completed 2 hives and painted the out side today (top hives).
I'll post pic tomorrow.
I checked my painting and it was dry so here's a pic.
Couldn't fit the other roof on.
They're beautiful! Nice job. Are they Warré style?
You got it Bogon, I first cut some frames for a regular Langstroth hive and after 2 days of cutting the frames I said there's got to be an easier way. Then I found plans for the Warre hive that had the mm converted to inches. But looking at 11 13/16" was not to my liking so I got a deal on 1x6" boards, 5 1/2" wide and went at it rounding off the measurements. My bees will not have a ruler so I think it will be OK ^^_^^
I glued all the joints and nailed them together with my air nailer, I love that tool.