# Stain vs Paint.



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Paint;
Lasts longer. 
Cheaper, I use miss-tint paint, fairy easy to find. 
Easy to mix my tan hive color (from miss-tints). All my hives match.
You can paint/touch up hives with bees in them with latex paint without worry.
Dries quickly. Ready for immediate use.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

An expensive stain may last in full sun for about 3 or 4 years (like Cabot 3000 series) before it needs to be redone. A full color stain (which kind of looks like paint) is good for about 10 years on decks . An average exterior Acrylic paint warranty starts at 15 years and some of the super paints go to 40 or so. I do a lot of wood work and hate to paint the beautiful wood but I do. 
Wood glue like titebond (here we go onto the glue gurus) will hold up without the extra rating (waterproof or weather proof) if you can keep it out of the sun and direct elements with a coat of paint.
Something that I learned here is to use a full color stain from the oops (mist tints) for about $8. I use it for a primer. I then use a top coat of the miss-tints for the top two coats. It is not unusual to get $40-$50 per gallon paint for $8. Paint costs me more than the wood so I like to pass it on. Watch the paint types- I messed up and got alkaloid Enamel and acrylic and enamel mixed up. I don’t even have a clue how a water cleanup alkaloid works when using it for a base. I have yet to go out to a yard and find all the top coats on the ground (thought I was going to on a set of Adirondack chairs but it is still holding)


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

If you want a product that will protect your equipment from rot, try copper naphthenate. It starts out green, then fades to a brown wood color. There is a study that said it caused the bees to have memory loss, but the study doesn't mesh with what is seen in real world of practical beekeeping.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Depends on what you mean by "stain." A lot of what is sold these days is "opaque latex stain." In other words, latex paint. Here's a particularly egregious example, a white stain: http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-1-g...or-House-and-Fence-Wood-Stain-01101/204166241

I use oil-based stains on my log cabin. It is messier to apply than paint, but looks better and in my opinion is better for the wood. It soaks into the surface. My first two applications lasted about 5 years but the third is holding up better. I'm not clear if the stain is really better or if the repeated use is the equivalent of priming.

I also want my stains to be transparent or semi-transparent, and lately I've been having to mix my own in order to achieve this, because the industry has gotten really confused about what constitutes a stain. Mixing with a compatible transparent sealant with a UV inhibitor probably helps.

Were I to be doing some of the classier hive bodies, such as cypress or some of the more decorative types we see here, I would use stain. What I use for my front-yard, but utilitarian, hives is a base coat of Kilz primer and a top coat of a premium outdoor latex. Without the primer the latex is not durable.


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## BeeRanger (May 21, 2015)

Hey guys,thanks for all of your opinions. The hives I'm planning to paint aren't made to look pretty (as I have said before),but will be use for their practicality. To add another question,what are the best colors for beehives,does it matter or do bees prefer a certain color(s) from your experience. (Note: I won't be using white) 

Thanks

-BeeRanger


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

"what are the best colors for beehives,does it matter or do bees prefer a certain color(s) from your experience."

Darker colors tend to be warmer (absorb radiant energy at least in the visible spectrum and transfer some of that through the hive wall into the hive) and require a little more effort by the bees to cool the hive in the summer. This is a benefit in the winter but the sun is lower on the horizon so less effect. This probably doesn't matter much to the bees but could affect honey production a little.
David


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

I read that bees can't see red or shades of red, looks black to them. Yellows, greens, blues, and purples are supposed to be easily seen by the bees. Designs on the front help them distinguish their hive from other hives of the same color when the hive are close together. I mix and match by putting a mix of different color and stained boxes on the bottom board in a different order: Stained Deep, yellow deep, blue super, white super, stained super next to White deep, stained deep, green super, white super, next to hive with boxes all the same (stained or same color). It looks interesting and I think it helps the bees find their hive.


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

We just stained 125 deep boxes today. We got it in salmon color..... yahoo! 

2nd stain and paint.... we applied lite green paint for the finishing coat.

Both work great and I like what is cheapest for the quality!


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

>what are the best colors for beehives,does it matter or do bees prefer a certain color(s) from your experience. (Note: I won't be using white) 

Whatever color you choose, you want it light. You don't want them to over heat. Swarms prefer a home in shade but we put them in full sun for pests, which they tolerate. It is much harder to cool a dark hive in full sun on a hot day than it is to keep a cluster warm in the winter in a light hive.

The color I don't think it matters to the bees, I have done many cutout and seen the locations that many swarms have chosen, there does not seem to be a preferred color. 

I prefer a light tan, my hives blend in to the surrounding area any time of the year. My swarm traps are hung high in trees, I painted them gray to blend in to the trunk and branches of the trees.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

My bees prefer the colors on the oops table, but I always choose the lighter colors so they don't overheat in the summer.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Before writing off darker colors, the damyankee beeks should search the archives for threads with people showing off their decorative hives. There have been some stunners posted here, and people in the northern US and Canada seem to get away with dark colors with no ill effects.

My wife and I settled on an almond beige. I checked the oops table and it was all interior latex. The brand we chose was expensive in gallons but available in quarts, and was a gloss exterior formula. We apply brightly colored decorations (various junk or large painted letters) above the hive entrances both for our amusement and to give the bees something to look at on orientation flights.


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## pgayle (Jan 27, 2008)

I put some Behr semi-transparent stain on a picnic table a little over a year ago. It looks nice. But this fall I was seeing cracks in the wood. I also put some on some hive bodies, but it's too early to tell how those are holding up. Really looks nice, but if the hive bodies crack like the picnic table did, they are going to rot.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Wood finishes are designed to reduce moisture and UV penetration. If the wood or the finish did not last 15 to 25 years one or both was not accomplished. I discovered this in a cedar house on the Chesapeake Bay I used to own, expensive mistake!


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

AmericasBeekeeper said:


> Wood finishes are designed to reduce moisture and UV penetration....


Good point about the UV. From what I've seen, the sun is just as hard on things as the rain is. Unprotected wood takes a beating.

Adam


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I paint my hives. Personal choice. However, I built my hive stands and decided to stain them. Picked up some "oops" stain that was on the cheap end of the scale and stained (two coats) all my stands. I also built an herb table but ran out of the "oops" stain so I went back to the hardware store and bought a high quality stain and finished the table with that. The hive stands are all cracking (not real bad but clearly the stain has faded and faltered here and there) but the herb table looks near new.


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## JoshuaW (Feb 2, 2015)

This is my first year, and I tried several different products: oil-based stain, ECO Wood Treatment, paint, unprotected I live in a very humid climate, so that influenced my decision the most.

Pros Cons
Oil-based stain: Wood looks beautiful Cleanup is messy
Rainwater beaded up nice UV damage requires re-staining after a few years

ECO: Easy application Wood didn't shed water
"Rustic" look Other users report splitting anyway
Not really known how long it lasts

Paint: House material Time between coats
Great protection Clean-up is the same whether doing 1 box or 100 boxes
An even coat looks fabulous Boxes can "stick" together when the edges are painted
Primer+Paint lasts 10+ years 

Unprotected: Major time saver Boxes warped and cracked
No painting Only last a couple years _in my climate_ 
No cleanup  (80%+ humidity most the year)
All natural Boxes have to be replaced frequently (expensive for me)
Roaches are attracted to rotting wood

I decided to take the time to do two coats of primer and two coats of exterior latex paint. I like how the hives look and I have peace of mind that the boxes will be protected from the elements as good as a house for quite a while.


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