I'm just beginning and want to know about staining new hive bodies. Any benefit to exterior waterproof stains over exterior latex paint. Should you use acrylic? Are colors helpful to bees to identify their hives? Are certain stains toxic to bees?
>Any benefit to exterior waterproof stains over exterior latex paint.
Only aesthetic benefits...
> Should you use acrylic?
It's fine.
> Are colors helpful to bees to identify their hives?
Helpful, yes. Necessary, no.
> Are certain stains toxic to bees?
None that are in common use that I know of.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#stoppainting (http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#stoppainting)
My hives are stained and varnished, cause that is how I like em. The bees don't seem to care.
All of mine are painted in order to prolong the life of the boxes. Some of mine are pink, light green, light blue, etc. I have no dark colors. I also painted flowers on some and bamboo on one (long winter). Most of the painted ones are in an area where others can easily see them. Bees do not see colors as we do so I do not think color or pictures really make a difference to them. -Mike
I use whatever color is handy at the time. I do try to stay with the light color to reflect heat.
I've always painted mine white until this year. I got a dented marked down can of Cabot deck stain and I used it on some new mediums today.
It looks good and I was getting tired of plain ol' white anyway. :bee:
I have stained mine in the past, however this year I don't think I will do anything. The bees don't care and the one that didn't get stained looks OK. and the ones that did still age. Besides, I can use the time spent staining on sitting by the hives, watching the bees, with a nice beer in hand.
Best answer I've seen yet! :-D