Wax dipped, wax coated, or painted?

There are several ways to go about it, but one thing is for certain, beekeeping equipment is outside in the elements all day every day and it needs to be protected from moisture to control wood rot.  

Most people opt for painting as it's not too expensive, works pretty well and doesn't require special equipment. You can paint your equipment whatever color you want, paint designs on it, art, or whatever you desire. One of the cons is the time investment, doing it right takes time.  For me, that's one coat of an oil based primer and two coats of an acrylic enamel paint.  Paint also doesn't last very long on hive bodies and cracks around the box joints, allowing moisture to penetrate.  Many beekeepers have to repaint their boxes every few years to get the maximum life out of them. 

There's also wax coated equipment, which you generally see used on inexpensive imported hives.  I'm not 100% certain of the wax they use but believe it to just be parrafin and they will heat the wax until it melts and dip the equipment in there quickly and remove and let it drip off. They could be heating the wax to only 200 degrees and dipping it in there for mere seconds, which is not hot enough for moisture to be boiled out of the wood nor is it enough heat or time for the wax to impregnate the wood.  Generally, within a year or so the wax coating starts peeling off and then there's no real protection on the hive and you can't paint them as paint won't stick to whatever wax is there. I do not recommend this option at all, they look nice that first year then they're peeling, ugly and unprotected. 

Then there's wax dipped equipment.  A 50/50 blend of paraffin and microcrystalline wax is melted and heated to 300 degrees and the equipment is submerged for 10 minutes, boiling out any moisture in the wood and driving the wax back in the pores of the wood. Any tiny gaps between box joints, knots, cracks, etc all get wax down in there where paint can't reach. Because of this, wax dipped equipment can last for 20+ years! Wax dipped equipment must be assembled before it is dipped, otherwise the wood glue won't stick, so a potential downside would be you can't order them unassembled to save a few bucks, and it is more expensive to ship assembled equipment than it is unassembled.  You also can’t paint them, so no fun colors and it’s very expensive to get setup to wax dip equipment, even just filling our tank with wax costs over $1000, so DIY wax dipping a few boxes here and there is not very feasible. 

What's the best method to protect your equipment?  That's for each beekeeper to decide based on their time, budget and goals, but we believe wax dipping to be superior to any other beekeeping equipment preservation techniques and protects your investment for the longest you can.