Painting inside of hive

[Antipodes]

The recommendation from an Australian Honey Bee Industry Council document on the internet is to, "paint the wood ware inside and out with successive coats of primer, undercoat and gloss.....you should always use food -grade paint for the inside of the box....Many acrylic paints will be suitable but you must check". I'm told all acrylic paints whether interior or exterior, have mould inhibitors in them so I can't find a paint that is food safe. Local advice is also to paint the inside of the boxes and the floors to help prevent the hive rotting from the inside to the outside. I'm thinking shellac is a reasonable paint substitute as a sealer against water and humid air? Anyone had experience using shellac for this purpose? The wood is radiata pine.

 

[Walrus]

Murray McGregor (IntotheLionsDen on this forum) has recently been dipping floors into melted wax which works very well. His Twitter is @calluna4u.

I have not heard of painting inside hives before. The floor could do with some protection (I just use woodstain or paint or varnish) but I don't think you need to paint inside the boxes. The bees cover the insides with a thin layer of propolis. Shellac looks a bit like a propolis type thing (from tree resin) but the bees will do that for you anyway.

 

[Poly Hive]

I would ask the local government bee people about that advice as it may be a local condition that is driving the advice.

In the uk we let the bees propolise and our local advice is not to paint inside the hives.

Been to Tassie and your first ferry was owned and sailed by a Shetlander and his brother. A very beautiful part of the world.

PH

 

[Finman]

.
If wooden hive is painted inside, it makes difficult to clean the box with flame.
Paint will be burned.

 

[Antipodes]

Thanks for the tips. McGregor tweets are interesting and a big operation there. I didn't realise about Bruce Yardley either....sad.
Yes Poly Hive, we do get erratic weather so perhaps that has something to do with the local advice. For instance recently we went from 40c to a frost in under 2 weeks. A very rough stretch of water Bass Strait so it would take a strong constitution to sail regularly on it for sure.
Good point Finman regarding the burning of the paint.

 

[masterBK]

Most of UK hives are cedar so naturally rot resistant and need no painting unlike pine.

 

[Ian123]

I always find a good stain out preforms paint every time and in terms of future re-coats required no more than a dust/brush off. Cedar or not the boxes get a couple of coats

 

[Finman]

Most of UK hives are cedar so naturally rot resistant and need no painting unlike pine.

Cedar or not, wood needs a protective cover.


.

 

[madasafish]

I always find a good stain out preforms paint every time and in terms of future re-coats required no more than a dust/brush off. Cedar or not the boxes get a couple of coats

+1

 

[Antipodes]

The boxes I use are radiata pine (Monterey pine) which is sent in from New Zealand. It is not a very rot resistant wood. It has a wide grain and is porous. I'm painting the outside with house paint and am experimenting with tung oil where the boxes touch together when stacked on a hive- as I'm finding they seem to stick together if painted there. So I take it that in England, ( for example in the South of England which I don't think is too different to where I am climate wise - rainfall very similar, yep our winter daytime maximums are somewhat warmer), the propolis from the bees on the inside of the hive (on a radiata pine hive) is enough to prevent them rotting on the inside? I'm using solid floors and no roof ventilation. Foilboard (20mm) in the roof. As suggested by Poly Hive, I've just also emailed the government bee person to ask.

 

[Antipodes]

I've just found another instruction here to paint the inside of hives.

In the Australian Beekeeping Guide https://www.agrifutures.com.au/product/australian-beekeeping-guide/ (page 12 ) it says, "Apply the primer or undercoat on the inside and outside surfaces and well into the timber. Pay particular attention to the frame rest areas inside the box where condensation can accumulate. Follow up with two coats of finishing paint".


I'm curious as to whether this advice is given anywhere else in the world?

 

[B+.]

I've just found another instruction here to paint the inside of hives.

In the Australian Beekeeping Guide https://www.agrifutures.com.au/product/australian-beekeeping-guide/ (page 12 ) it says, "Apply the primer or undercoat on the inside and outside surfaces and well into the timber. Pay particular attention to the frame rest areas inside the box where condensation can accumulate. Follow up with two coats of finishing paint".


I'm curious as to whether this advice is given anywhere else in the world?

I think Steve Tilmann paints the inside of his hives. Take a look at this (http://www.michiganbees.org/beekeeping/in-the-beekeepers-workshop/ )

 

[Hivemaker.]

I think Steve Tilmann paints the inside of his hives.

....another is Philip Argyle, also Luke Taylor.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I've used the primer/undercoat/gloss method on the outside only and 3 years later they look a mess. Within a year moisture blistered the paint when the brood nest created heat and humidity. They need repainting.
Painting both sides might help but it's a lot of work.

I now use a shed/fence paint which allows the wood to breathe. Not tried woodstain.
I'm even trying scratching up the inside to promote propolis which maybe keeps the brood nest more healthy.

The commercial guys here know what pays financially. I just do this for fun.

. . . . Ben

 

[ericbeaumont]

The boxes I use are radiata pine (Monterey pine) which is sent in from New Zealand. It is not a very rot resistant wood. It has a wide grain and is porous.

Antipodes,

For those reasons they dip boxes in hot wax or paraffin wax in New Zealand; US as well, and there's plenty on Youtube to show how to singe your eyebrows. My daughter's primary head-teacher was a New Zealander and an ex-beefarmer and he told the story of how he nearly killed himself when the tank caught fire.

Wood, especially in beehives, must breathe. It's beyond bizarre that anyone should try and prevent that with paint, let alone paint on the inside of a box. Why not save the money on paint and labour to prep and re-apply it every three years, and spend instead on better wood? I'd like to know the rationale of the beekeepers Hivemaker mentioned.

Perhaps the real advantages of poly have yet to arrive in NZ, but once sprayed a poly box should last thirty years. They do have Technoset, which is double-walled plastic and
Thermowood which is more expensive but doesn't need dipping so may end up cheaper (and less dangerous) and TanE wood that uses water rather than spirit as a vehicle. These options - you an also buy ready-dipped boxes - suggest that there is a real issue with NZ wood decay, or a difficulty in importing better wood cost-effectively. LysonNZ polyhives (which import from Lyson in Poland) may solve the problem.

Reviews of all this on NZ Beekeepers.net.

 

[Antipodes]

https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business...eensland/hive-management/preserving-equipment

http://www.johnlguilfoyle.com.au/Web pamphlets/How To - Beg a.pdf

Perhaps painting the inside it is more of an Aussie thing....at least some of the advice is coming from the government too as you can see from a few of my links.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Cedar or not, wood needs a protective cover.


.

I use linseed oil. Keeps the wood looking good as well as protecting it.

 

[Finman]

I use linseed oil. Keeps the wood looking good as well as protecting it.

I read from factory advice that at outdoors linseed painted wood takes easily mold. Look Wikipedia.
Oil does not seal wood as paints do.

 

[Swarm]

....another is Philip Argyle, also Luke Taylor.

Doesn't Phil use a propolis mixture to paint inside his hives?

My son in law is a beekeeper in Australia and as far as I know doesn't paint inside hives.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Doesn't Phil use a propolis mixture to paint inside his hives?

Yes he does, he has mentioned it on here several times.