Thank you! Well, as far as the financial aspects go... a good, well built bee frame is somewhere around the $5-$6 dollar mark. You can get them for less, but those break very easily due to being made with such poor material...you can barely get a year out of them. So with the set up we have (as described above),  we can make them assembly line style and knock them out very quickly. A really good producing hive can use somewhere around 60 frames, so at $5 thats around $300 for each hive (We are adding 5 hives this year so thats around $1500 for us) in frames alone. So, if you already have the equipment...I think it is a great financial savings. 

As far as the lumber we do try to be picky about the wood we choose to use. In the process we describe you are removing all of the surface material, therefore removing a large majority (if not all) of any chemicals that may have been used.  Most hives individuals purchase are being made in china and are a very low quality plus, they are most likely treated very heavily after the fact. 

We really want to be able to produce things ourselves using the materials available...we think its an extremely important part of self sufficiency.  Using pallets that would normally be thrown away to make our hives is something we think is a great step in that direction.

Good luck with your bees! You are gonna love them.