I have a bee hive that looks like it wasn’t treated and spend sometime outside.
The black and grey spots on the wood, are they just normal signs of weathering or is that mold? And is there a way I can remove this (apart from sanding)?
The wood is Araucaria I believe.
That looks like natural mould to me. You can probably get away with bleaching it, then treating the wood to prevent it coming back (disclaimer - I don’t know what the best treatment is given bees will be nearby).
@boldaslove has refurbed hives I think?
Thank you.
Can’t really tell from the picture if it’s mould or not but it would be fairly sensible to assume it was.
I’m guessing that if it’s a bit of beekeeping equipment It was fairly expensive and you probably want to make it last as long as possible.
The outside of the box:
I would sand it down, put some nice weather proofing on the outside. There are loads of exterior wood paints in most diy shops. There’s even really expensive bee friendly paints you can buy if budget is not a concern - but as the paint is on the outside I’m not convinced yet it’s worth the extra dosh.
The inside:
Maybe sand down if it’s on the inside too, or maybe just scorch it. Probably scorch it too for good measure. Don’t paint, treat or weather proof the inside of the box
Great. Thank you for that.
