Originally Posted by Retro Grouch

Over the years I've gone from using nothing, linseed oil, spoke prep, and now bee's wax. If I were building a wheel today, I'd use bee's wax because I like the way the spokes feel when I tension them up. I've also had the occasion to disassemble a wheelset I had built previously using bee's wax and I liked the way the spokes felt as I was taking the wheel apart. Bee's wax is the most labor intensive of the four methods I've used but I don't charge myself labor so I don't care.