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Painting Hives.

4K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Michael Bush 
#1 ·
What do you use to clean a already existing
hive with before repainting it? Thanks, Duane in VA.
 
#3 ·
Hot pressure washer. Melts wax and most propolis also. Knocks off flaking paint. Let's see.....$2500. divided by 100 lbs of honey a year....it might take a few years to pay off with your crop. But you can clean up your lawn tractors nice too.
 
#4 ·
If the hives arent too bad, you can get away with just painting them, otherwise a mix of bleach/water can be effective, or tsp (tri-sodium-phosphate) any paint store will carry this. Also, if your buying new paint, remember you usually get what you pay for. I painted all of my grandfathers equipment with Diamond Vogel MC 1501. This is a primer / finish coat and has worked very well for me in the past. It is also tintable, to most colors. The brand isn't too important, but buying cheap paint will go alnong with more labor in the future. If your hives are peeling really bad, I would reccomend scraping and using a product called "peel stop" it's about $ 20.00/ gal. but goes a long ways and saves your hives from looking like crap in a year. I would also ask your local paint store about any mis-tinted paints they might have. Usually they are held back for the "painters" but it's always worth asking about.
 
#6 ·
Me, too. 60 Grit discs will do a fine job fast. Bee sure to tack-cloth off the dust before painting so that it will properly adhear to the wood.

Mike Bush, you mentioned elsewhere that you use latex less color added so as to see the wood grain (if I remember correctly). I had not heard that that was available (paint w/out color). How long have you been using this colorless paint? What make (Behr/Glidden/other)? Holds up as long as "colored" paint?

Have you ever used the "ClearShield" by minwax (I think)? If so, how does it last compared to latex paint?
Do you primer first and if so, latex or oil. What do you think of oil primer/latex top coat?

Previously, I used oil prim/oil top for awhile but after a couple years, the paint would crack/peel. Plus wood had more of a tendency to rot esp. bottoms.

Then went to oil prim/latex top. So far (3-4 years), it has held up well. Then 2 years ago I started with the ClearShield on all new hive woodenware as I like seeing the wood grain and so far it has held up OK.

Thanx.
 
#7 ·
>Mike Bush, you mentioned elsewhere that you use latex less color added so as to see the wood grain (if I remember correctly).

Yes.

>I had not heard that that was available (paint w/out color).

I bought it accidently the first time. I grabbed what I thought were two cans of white, but the first one was white and the second was the base without any color. I have bought various kinds at various hardware stores depending on what was on sale and what was convienient at the time, Ace, Tru Value etc. I had no difficulty finding it.

>How long have you been using this colorless paint?

Just a couple of years.

>What make (Behr/Glidden/other)? Holds up as long as "colored" paint?

I haven't used it long enough to say. Like the man falling off the Empire State Building said at the 10th floor, "so far so good".

>Have you ever used the "ClearShield" by minwax (I think)? If so, how does it last compared to latex paint?

I've never used it.

>Do you primer first and if so, latex or oil. What do you think of oil primer/latex top coat?

I don't prime first. It does take a couple of coats to do a really good job, but I usually only do one. I've always tried to stick with the latex. It seems like mixing oil and latex just doesn't work as well, but latex seems to do ok on oil. Oil doesn't seem to do well on latex. The latex doesn't seem to peel as much.

>Previously, I used oil prim/oil top for awhile but after a couple years, the paint would crack/peel. Plus wood had more of a tendency to rot esp. bottoms.

>Then went to oil prim/latex top. So far (3-4 years), it has held up well. Then 2 years ago I started with the ClearShield on all new hive woodenware as I like seeing the wood grain and so far it has held up OK.

I'm trying some with Thompson's Water Seal this year and I will see how they do.

Someone on here suggested that they don't paint at all and the the wood breathing was a help for overwintering and the paint seals in moisture as much as it seals it out. I'm sure climate is a factor in all of this, but I do wonder if sealing the wood really helps that much. Yes it gets gray slower, but does it actually rot slower? I'm not sure. I think I'll keep painting something on them for now.
 
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