Benjamin Moore paint in my opinion is great paint. I use it exclusively on and in MY home. I think it is too good to use on hive bodies and very unnecessary. For hive bodies, I use the generic lowes or home depot paint. The returned discount paint at depot or lowes will suffice.

 

My wife works in a Ben Moore store so it's all through our house (23 different colors, last I counted, which is pretty good for 2000 sq ft...). She's tried cheap paints from WalMart and better paints from Lowe's and Home Depot; they work okay but have not held up as well as Ben Moore over the years. I do agree with trottet's comments, though perhaps the bees will appreciate the quality and perform accordingly

My daughter is in charge of painting, and already plotting what shades to use on our newly assembled boxes (our first year: going with 1 deep and the then mediums). We get a discount, of course, and I love that she's involved with the bees (we attend Bee School together) so she can do whatever she wants. The nucs come the first week in May, so she has some time. I did suggest the discount paint stand at our local Lowe's, but she won't have anything to do with it....

Enjoy,

Erik

 

I use BM exterior paint on my boxes and it has held up well - it is starting its third season thhis year. The only places it is damaged is at the prying point, which is just mechanical injury and would happen with any paint.

I used white pigmented shellac to seal up end grain and knot holes, then BM exterior primer and two coats of exterior flat. My hives are each a different color so my paint costs are higher than necessary, but I regard it as eye-candy for me. I love color and I love to paint and I can spend many happy hours choosing the colors.

Enj.

 

Enj, why do you use a Flat, rather than a Satin or other glossier sheen?