ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers
List archive
- From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
- To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?
- Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:04:34 -0400
I've found that some suppliers are good for some things, others are
better for other things. Dadant (www.dadant.com) is a good place to check out. To save a bit on shipping costs, find what you want online but instead of ordering on their website pick up the phone and call the store in Chatham, Virginia and place your order directly with them. They are 20 miles north of Danville so the distance-based shipping charges are a good bit less than from the main store in Illinois. Betterbee (www.betterbee.com) is worth looking at for bottles and specialty items. I've bought a few things from Miller in the past and it was good quality. Jack Tapp, on New Hope Church Road at I-40 in Chapel Hill, carries essential items and can get Brushy Mountain items for you without you having to pay shipping charges. Rossman's in Georgia (www.gabees.com) specializes in cypress wooden ware. I usually make my own wooden ware, mostly because I enjoy it. But Blair is right that the price per box is not much more for store-bought than home made, as long as you don't have to pay shipping costs. Wood is heavy and the cost to ship can be more than the box itself. The trouble with Lowe's & Home Depot is that you have to carefully inspect your lumber before you buy it. Random pine boards from the rack can be very bowed, warped, excessively knotted and even too short. I usually have to fish through quite a few before I find a small handful that are acceptable. If you start with funny lumber you'll end up with funny boxes. But if the boards you buy are "true" then you can get results as good as the mass market suppliers. After all, these aren't pianos we are building. It helps to make jigs to keep the corners square, the lengths precise, etc. as you build them. A frame assembly jig makes the work go tremendously faster and better. You can get plans for one on www.beesource.com. Randall Austin On 9/24/2011 5:03 PM, Alicia Reenders wrote: CANAXtuDUKOD2-AFs0dpWs9peMx64J-uWXUJcFbZGiOb0+z8P6A AT mail.gmail.com" type="cite">I have made my own bee boxes from Lowe's lumber and had a really hard time getting square corners and tops that line up when you try to stack them due to warping issues. I have taken a woodworking class and learned how to plane and joint lumber to get square edges, and I think this is what you might have to do. In the long run, it was cheaper to go to lowes but the product was not very useable. |
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[ocba] Internet bee supplies?,
Blair Christian, 09/24/2011
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Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?,
Alicia Reenders, 09/24/2011
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Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?,
Randall Austin, 09/24/2011
- Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?, annallys Goodwin-Landher, 09/25/2011
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Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?,
Randall Austin, 09/24/2011
- Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?, Wilson Lamb, 09/24/2011
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?, birdcr AT concentric.net, 09/25/2011
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Re: [ocba] Internet bee supplies?,
Alicia Reenders, 09/24/2011
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