I live in the Adirondack Mountains in NY and my logs stay out all winter. They are dormant and need to spend the winter in the cold. This is my 4th year and I have abundant shiitakes every year. you might want to check online for your local cooperative extension on their recommendations.

December 2019, Kentucky—We are harvesting thousands of wild honey mushrooms from an area where quite a few ash trees were culled about four years ago. The remaining3-ft tall stumps are surrounded by dense, almost continuous, mushroom clusters. Area between cut logs on the ground and most of the ground, in woodsy shade and extending into a lawn, is covered by mushrooms for a 40-foot+ square area. ( not 40 sq. Ft.) FYI. None of my reading recommends ash logs for anything, but…

you can learn more in mushrooms-farming.com

I don’t know if Ash is ok. I’ve seen both Yes and No answers to that questions.

Any wax will do. Paraffin, beeswax, soy-based wax. It’s just to keep the bugs out, and you don’t eat it.

You can probably grow shiitake in bags of wood chips, but log grown outdoors is seen by some to result in more health benefits (slower to grow means higher concentrations of good stuff).

9-12 months for first fruiting. Following fruitings every 2-6 months depending on season and if you force them. Will fruit for at least 5 years.

If you don’t know for sure that the log was inoculated at least 6 months ago, leave it in the basement until spring.