Painting hive bodies and supers

[mswaf100]

What kind of paint do you use to paint hive bodies and supers, oil based or latex based?
Do you use primer? If so, what kind?
Can you use a clear coat of some kind? To show the natural wood.
Does anyone here use copper napthanate to treat the wood?:s

[SD2522]

I use exterior latex Benjamin Moore paint with a Benjamin Moore primer. I have found it to work very well, superior to many others. I've had absolutely no problem with it at all. Typically I do one coat of primer with 2-3 coats of paint. I've found BM products to go on in heavier coats which seem to work better.

[AR Beekeeper]

I dip supers in a 5 to 1 solution of paint thinner and copper naphthenate. I let them soak for 24 hours and then allow to air for a month before putting them in service.

[honeydreams]

Nothing but copper naphthenate out side of that nothing.

[Ravenseye]

Mostly an oil based primer with a latex top coat(s), although sometimes an oil based top coat if I can get it reasonable. Really don't like latex. It doesn't last the same but it's OK if you don't mind a bit more maintenance. My best lasting boxes were painted once with an oil base primer and two coats of oil topcoat. I haven't touched them in years. I don't have a single latex box that has lasted as long. Oil is harder to work with but additive labor cancels that out. Even the oil based paints today aren't as good as the old paints for some reason.

[Barry]

Even the oil based paints today aren't as good as the old paints for some reason.

I'll bet it's mostly the lack of lead. I'm reworking the bay window on my house that dates to 1888 and took off several of the trim boards around the windows to scrape and paint. There was one board next to the house wall that still had some of the original paint on it as it was all crackled. I took the heat gun to it and lifted all those layers right off. The bottom coat had that nice lead and turpentine laden smell. That wood looked as fresh as the day it was put up. I always use oil for primer and interior trim. Not as good as it use to be, but still better than latex.

[crowemountain]

don't use paint. it's bad for your girls.
the fumes from it cooking off in the sun are good for nothing more than disorienting the bees.
linseed oil is what you want to use.
end of story.
make sure to get it in its raw form, not treated or boiled.
makes for a natural looking, bulletproof finish.

[bnatural]

don't use paint. it's bad for your girls.
the fumes from it cooking off in the sun are good for nothing more than disorienting the bees.
linseed oil is what you want to use.
end of story.....

Or, use cypress hives and don't paint/stain/oil at all.

Bill

[jbw]

I make mine from pine. No finish. They last really well. Finishing is overrated. Save the earth. Go natural.

[MichelinMan]

don't use paint. it's bad for your girls.
the fumes from it cooking off in the sun are good for nothing more than disorienting the bees.
linseed oil is what you want to use.
end of story.
make sure to get it in its raw form, not treated or boiled.
makes for a natural looking, bulletproof finish.

Never heard of that before. I`ve been using latex on my equipment with no problems. I believe unfinished wood will not last as long as painted.The bottom line for me is exactly that... the bottom line. What ever is cheapest. I get exterior latex at Home Depot and buy the mismatched paints really cheap. The result is my hives are all sorts of colors. And that my friend helps with bees orientation. :)

[honeydreams]

Painting is over rated bees don't see in color like we do its smell of the hive that brings them back each time. as for painting just make sure of two things
1 out side only!
2 no dark colors
out side of that do what you want.:D

[NasalSponge]

Anything exterior latex on Lowes ooops shelf.

[frostygoat]

Shellac. All natural (made of bugs). Dries fast. Looks good. No fumes.

[waynesgarden]

don't use paint. it's bad for your girls.
the fumes from it cooking off in the sun are good for nothing more than disorienting the bees.
linseed oil is what you want to use.
end of story.

It would be the end of the story for me if you offered some documentation for your opinion.

My opinion is that the latex paint I use does nothing of the sort. My bees are finding their way in and out of their hive just fine in the hot sun.

Wayne

[beyondthesidewalks]

I have always painted them white but started painting them pastel colors chosen by my daughter. She really digs picking the colors out for me. I also get some of the oops paints at the local big box. I've got a gallon of light gray that goes on all my swarm traps. I think that the light colors really help in the Texas heat. I had some dark brown oops paint that I got real cheap and it made the swarm traps way too hot. The swarms I trapped all absconded before I could get them established and moved home. Dark colors are out here but I see several folks in colder climes using dark colors and I imagine that helps in winter. I've used oil and believe it or not, it started peeling, I think, from the moisture in the hive. Latex has always worked for me and that's what I will stick with. I had some hives that were over 10 years old, the paint was peeling and the wood warping, rotting and splitting. I like the old venerable looks of those hives and didn't do anything about it until the hive bodies were literally falling apart. The bees didn't mind the peeling paint or rough hives. I got my money's worth from that paint and woodenware. I think that the painting, soaking or coating of hives is more for our preference than the bees well being except for the dark/light variable that helps with warming or cooling the hive.

[beevet]

No one has mentioned wax dipping which is my personal favorite here in the damp northeast. I really like how the water beads off and how well it preserves. I know copper nap is widely used but it is a well known toxin. Even despite the success of so many others, I stay away from it unless I'm treating hoof rot in horses.

[AR Beekeeper]

There are many opinions about paint, color and painting the inside of bee hives. When a young man I was a house painter for 13 years, and my experience was that latex lasted longer than oil based paints on outside lumber. It allowed water vapor to pass out of the wood without blistering the paint surface and was more flexible so that it did not crack and peel as oil based paints did.

It doesn't hurt to paint the inside of a beehive. The only effect on the bees is that they do not use as much propolis inside as they do on raw wood. Not painting the inside was based on the idea that the wood would absorb moisture and keep it off of the bees. All paint should be given time to dry and the odor to leave, just like when you paint your bed room.

Painting hives white works in two ways, heat control and less rapid expansion of the wood due to heating and cooling. A white box in the noon day sun is about 10 degrees cooler than a box that is brown or dark green. Choose which is more important to you, warm bees in winter or cool bees in summer. If a screened bottom board is used the bees can cool the interior in summer. Dark boxes are more prone to splitting and warping if not painted inside and out due to rapid heating and cooling.

Shellac has poor resistance to moisture and is not recommended for outside use where it is exposed to water. Using linseed oil doesn't protect from moisture damage as much as a good latex paint.

Using copper naphthenate, which I use, has shown in a study to cause in bees a reduction in learning ability. I can detect no problems in my bees ability to collect nectar or do the tasks usually done by bees. Copper naphthenate will almost double the life of a box versus just painting alone.

[beevet]

Thanks for your detailed response. I also grew up with white hive mania but I'm in an urban area now and keeping the wood a natural color really helps them blend in with their surroundings and out of sight. I'm still wondering about hot wax dipping and how they compare to other preservation methods.

[bakerboy]

No paint.

The money saved by using the equipment for 15 vs 10 years (or even 30 vs 20) doesn't justify the cost of paint and brushes, forget about the time involved. Naked wood. Dead trees stand for a long time.

Betterbee's nicest grade of woodenware is sixteen bucks for a deep . Spread out over twenty years it's about 80 cents a year. If you extend that to thirty years it's an eight dollar savings. At least two of that is sucked up by paint, primer and brushes, and the time more than makes up the difference. You are going to have to repaint every five to seven years, more time, more paint, more brushes. Free yourself.

Note: not a plug for Betterbee, they are my supplier so I used their priciest hive as an example.

[Dr.Wax]

I use Thompson's water seal and nothing else.

[djhiban12]

i just use white exterior latex paint and coat everywhere exposed to the weather 3 or 4 times

[Rohe Bee Ranch]

I use White Exterior Latex paint on the hive bodies. I have found some colorful exterior latex "Oops Paint" at our local Home Depot that I use on my supers. I just have fun with my hives paint wise. Below links for my cat hive and southpark hives with supers.
http://www.rohebeeranch.com/
http://www.rohebeeranch.com/RoheBeeRanch_files/page0001.htm