# What kind of paint



## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

*What kind of paint should I use inside and out???*

What kind of paint should I use 

inside: Do not paint the inside! The bees will cover the bare wood with propolis, bee varnish.

and out??? 
Ans. I like a good coat of Zinzer 1-2-3 primer followed with a good coat of an exterior acrylic--Valspar.
Regards,
Ernie


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## REWERT (Jan 30, 2009)

I used linseed oil and beeswax. It was easy to apply (warm) and looks pretty good (natural) when finished. One quart of linseed and a few ounces of added beeswax easily covered my 2 KTBH's.


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## the.hines (Apr 13, 2009)

alright sounds good. Thought I would ask i have seen a lot of people paint the inside of their TBH.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

And there is nothing wrong with painting the inside either. I do it. To each their own.


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## the.hines (Apr 13, 2009)

I just wanted to make sure that it would hurt anything if I painted it with some extra off white latex paint I got laying around.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

*I just wanted to make sure that it would hurt anything*

You could paint the inside with a food grade paint.
Or coat it with parrafin.
Ernie


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

BEES4U said:


> You could paint the inside with a food grade paint.
> Or coat it with parrafin.
> Ernie


Are hollow trees painted, inside or out?

You do not need to paint the inside, at all, ever. If you want to weatherproof the outside, linseed oil with a little beeswax works well. Use paint if you must, but be prepared to have it crack and peel as the wood moves.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>What kind of paint should I use inside
None

> and out??? 
If you insist, any exterior paint will do. Or none will do also.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

*Posting # 2*

What kind of paint should I use 

inside: Do not paint the inside! The bees will cover the bare wood with propolis, bee varnish.
Ernie


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## the.hines (Apr 13, 2009)

So I was thinking maybe I shouldn't paint the inside??? LOL Thanks again


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## Zane (Mar 28, 2008)

I go to Lowes, Home Depot etc and ask for exterior miss mixed paint. ITs usually around $3.00-5.00. I paint mine for a few extra seasons in my high humidity zone and to stay incognito w/ my swarm traps in open areas. I have some I havent painted and they are not fairing as well as the painted ones. I may try the linseed/beewax method on my new box's.
Good Luck


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

buckbee said:


> Are hollow trees painted, inside or out?
> 
> You do not need to paint the inside


No, they're not. Do bees only reside inside hollow trees? No, they do not. Bees are found, by their choice, inside all kinds of places that don't always match the "pristine" interior of a hollow tree. Inside old gas tanks, inside building structures that have things like insulation, tar paper, yes, even paint! :shhhh:

Even inside my hives that are all painted inside and out. I know other seasoned beekeepers that do the same. In fact, I see one here:
http://bwrangler.litarium.com/top-bar-hives/
And here is another one:
http://beesource.com/eob/althive/birkey/index.htm

Once paint dries, show me any shred of evidence that it is harmful to anything going on inside a hive. I simply haven't seen it to be true. It aids me in seeing, since I paint mine white, and also seals the wood.

This issue is one of those urban legends in my book. Paint, no paint, a non issue.


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

Barry said:


> Once paint dries, show me any shred of evidence that it is harmful to anything going on inside a hive. I simply haven't seen it to be true. It aids me in seeing, since I paint mine white, and also seals the wood.


The point I was making that there is absolutely no NEED to paint the inside of a hive. It is a waste of time and paint, IMO, and why risk introducing chemical residues to no purpose? The bees are perfectly capable of coating the inside with propolis. 

Of course, if you want to paint yours, that's fine by me.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

buckbee said:


> Of course, if you want to paint yours, that's fine by me.


Which is what I said in post #5.


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## Abha (Apr 18, 2009)

the.hines said:


> I am building my TBH right now. What kind of paint should I use inside and out???


I found a really good kind of paint called *Mythic paint*. It is non toxic. A lot of paints really stink as they are drying, but I was able to use it to paint my hives inside with all the windows closed and no problem! It is quite expensive but _really really_ worth it.



Abha


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## Abha (Apr 18, 2009)

*Linseed and beeswax not good for all areas*

:no:


REWERT said:


> I used linseed oil and beeswax. It was easy to apply (warm) and looks pretty good (natural) when finished. One quart of linseed and a few ounces of added beeswax easily covered my 2 KTBH's.



This may work in dry areas, but I live in the Pacific NW, and my beekeeping instructor said he used that and the hives got moldy because it rains here so much. I decided to *paint* my hives.



Abha


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

Abha said:


> It is quite expensive but _really really_ worth it.


I'm still curious as to why anyone thinks it is necessary or desirable to paint the inside of a hive. Do the bees hand out prizes for interior decoration? Is it to impress the bee inspector? Or what? 

To me it makes as much sense as varnishing the inside of a fish tank.


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## Bizzybee (Jan 29, 2006)

Yeah, that wouldn't make much sense. Silicon works better in a fish tank.


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## Abha (Apr 18, 2009)

I painted the *OUTSIDE* of the hives. I did the painting on my dining room table inside my house as I have few other places to paint in my apartment. Here in the PNW, we have problems with moisture inside beehives in the winter so it is not recommended to paint the insides as the unpainted wood draws off some of that moisture.


Abha


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

buckbee said:


> To me it makes as much sense as varnishing the inside of a fish tank.


I don't know about varnish, but when I go to the Chicago aquarium, I see a lot of painted surfaces under water where the fish swim. Someone needs to tell them they don't need to do that!


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## dsquared (Mar 6, 2006)

*UV Damage*

I haven't seen anyone mention UV damage. I start off with painted equipment. I have good intentions. One thing I've learned is that I almost never repaint equipment. When I first started off (20 years ago) I stained my first hive bodies. They looked like furniture. My mentors (a bunch of old salts) just grinned. Their equipment looked awful. It didn't take long for me to realize that bees are not grateful for your labor at making their homes look presentable. If you paint, it's to preserve your equipment. Two things will constantly degrade wood that is outdoors moisture and sunlight.

Good quality paint protects against both. I covered my lovely stained hive bodies two years after I put them into service. The best advice: Do whatever suits you. The bees don't care. If you want your equipment to last a long time, paint it with the best quality exterior paint you can afford. How do you get really expensive paint really cheap? Buy the stuff that people have returned because the color isn't exactly right. Stores sell it cheap to get rid of it. For most of us, that works fine.

And if you're going to paint the inside of the hives, just make sure the color doesn't clash with the color of the outside.


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