Paint For My Hive!

[Billy The Beekeeper]

Ive been beekeeping for goin on 5 yrs... Then i went into the US Air Force and havent been able to do it for last year and a half other than helping locals here in Florida... Well im goin to be gettin back into it again in like a month... Ive had hives but never had to paint them so i was just looking for some advice on what type of paint i should use??? Thx for any advice!!!  :bee:

[Kathyp]

cheap latex oops paint from home depot, or similar :-)

[indypartridge]

cheap latex oops paint from home depot, or similar :-)

Exactly. Look for the clearance rack, or ask where they keep the mis-tints.

[vermmy35]

hit the company paint locker.  when I was in the Marine Corps that's what we did when we needed to paint something.

[danno]

I was on the oops band wagon and painted 3 and sometime 4 coats of what ever I could find.  This past winter I found a gallon of oops paint that had a price tag of 28.00 marked down 85% so i only payed a few bucks.  This stuff was amasing.  I got better coverage on the 1st coat than i had gotton on 2 or 3 of the junk.   My new game plan is to buy a quality gallon in a light color and have it tinted alittle darker, paint some, then tint alittle darker again and paint.  I get several different colors out of one gallon.  Good paint also goes ALOT futher than cheap stuff

[EasternShore]

Speaking as a painter and a beekeeper..The better the paint the longer is will last. If you want to spend the $50 for a gallon, Duron Duration once applied will last 4-5 YEARS! I use this on Historic homes in DC and it's worth EVERY penny.

Labor in my business is more costly than materials...whats YOUR time worth?

[BeeHopper]

I use Valspar Duramax exterior paints,  high solids which cover cracks well and no primer needed, it is available through Lowes. I painted 12 deeps and 6 bottom boards with almost 1 gallon, but is runs about $25. Any exterior paint will do  :-D

[Two Bees]

Anybody use stains?  If so, what brands work best for protecting the woodenware and your bees?

[vermmy35]

I used a bear all natural decking stain and sealer that I had leftover from when I painted the fence.  I will let you know how it worked at the end of this year and the hive came out looking nice too.

[Billy The Beekeeper]

thank you all for all this info... i appreciate it and will be goin to go get some soon for my hive.... :bee:

[pollenchucker]

Is there any problem with using a latex exterior primer as a bottom coat before covering with another latex paint?
-pc

[BeeHopper]

Is there any problem with using a latex exterior primer as a bottom coat before covering with another latex paint?
-pc

I don't see a problem there, latex on latex should be good  :)

[MustbeeNuts]

I         am  with the others exterior latex, cheap mis tints,        You can get all sorts of beautuful colors. I always seem to get grey, don't ask me but that seems popular for mis tinting around these parts. but I like grey, not to light not to dark, and it has a sorta bluish tint as well. for 5.00 per gallon can't be beat. LOLt

[dpence]

Is there any problem with using a latex exterior primer as a bottom coat before covering with another latex paint?
-pc

I use latex primer with no problems.  I kinda like Color Place Enamel, a little slicker finish.  You can get it in oops too...LOL.

David

[eri]

I'm using leftover exterior house paint from a builder, latex on latex. And tung oil on the exterior of a yellow pine homemade hive. Anything other than paint will age gracefully or not depending on the climate. Here it is hot and humid much of the summer, so cedar, for example, ages to a dark color on the north and east sides, but to a grey on the south and west sides. A couple of hundred miles west in the mountains where the humidity and temps are lower it greys out beautifully.

[BeeHopper]

I'm using leftover exterior house paint from a builder, latex on latex. And tung oil on the exterior of a yellow pine homemade hive. Anything other than paint will age gracefully or not depending on the climate. Here it is hot and humid much of the summer, so cedar, for example, ages to a dark color on the north and east sides, but to a grey on the south and west sides. a couple of hundred miles west in the mountains where the humidity and temps are lower it greys out beautifully.

Ah yes, Tung Oil .  I have never used it on a hive, but other wood projects though, brings out the beauty of wood every time.  :-D

[Brian D. Bray]

Anybody use stains?  If so, what brands work best for protecting the woodenware and your bees?

I used some marked down Bear Redwood stain  I got it to stain some touchup on the deck, used the left over on supers.  This will be year 3 and going strong.  Seems to last as long as the paint but use the good stuff from the oops bin if you can get it.

[tlynn]

The nucs I bought at Brushy Mountain's Christmas sale looked so nice I decided to sand them and varnish with spar.  120 paper, one coat spar, then and 3 more coats with 220 paper in between coats.  This isn't something a commercial beekeeper will do, of course, buy hey it's a hobby and I can look at my hives right outside my office window.  So for me, why not make them pretty?  I think I'll order the premium boxes in the future and do more of this.  They should hold up much better than paint.

http://www.technowerkz.com/IMG_0929.JPG

Tracy

[AGM]

I over heard some folks talking at our bee keeping meeting about a product called Wood Guard. The talk was it lasts forever and the hives keep a dark natural wood look. If your a back yard keeper with neighbors, the hives will not stand out as much. A out of sight out of mind approach.

[doak]

I would not consider using anything but flat out door latex, a good OOPS brand. :roll: :)doak