Painting poly hives

[chipper]

Just got a lot of 2nd hand Swienty Poly Nucs from B.Abbey...
None of them are painted......
Algal growth in varying degrees....
Can I just paint over it ?

 

[Finman]

.
Surely you must clean the base what you paint.
Use some chemical which kills and loosens the algae.

 

[chipper]

Thats what I thought....
What will kill the algae but not damage the poly. ?
Will the algae die if I put the boxes into balck bin bags....(No Light )

 

[snoop]

You could disinfect with a chlorine based cleaner ,
I used the paint that Swienty supplied it was a kind of Matt green , gave them all a good coat. Last year I just got a gloss paint locally. The Swienty stuff is wearing off a the landing boards after 2 seasons this was evident after the first season. The first ones will have to be painted in the spring when I change the floors. The gloss paint is showing no signs of wear or traffic on this years additions ( last winter the other ones were. )

 

[Finman]

Thats what I thought....
What will kill the algae but not damage the poly. ?
Will the algae die if I put the boxes into balck bin bags....(No Light )

algae is not only dirty what the wall has. You know that all surfaces must be clean from dust and loosen stuff before you spend your work and paint.

When you have a big amount, i would use warm lye solution. It loosens even bark from living twigs. Fat based dirty is the worst. It protects the wall from paint. Finger prints have fat.

Boat companies have special stuff what are used to take off algae from boat bottoms. I do not remember the price. My boy used it 3 months ago.

 

[Poly Hive]

Give them a good scrub with 6% washing soda, taking the usual precautions for working with chemicals.

PH

 

[For want of a better word]

algae is not only dirty what the wall has. You know that all surfaces must be clean from dust and loosen stuff before you spend your work and paint.

When you have a big amount, i would use warm lye solution. It loosens even bark from living twigs. Fat based dirty is the worst. It protects the wall from paint. Finger prints have fat.

Boat companies have special stuff what are used to take off algae from boat bottoms. I do not remember the price. My boy used it 3 months ago.

I use Oxallic Acid to remove "RUST" stains from the deck of GRP deck....
( must be chinese stainless fittings!), particularly where the anchor and chain sit on deck.
Have you thought of patio algae/ moss cleaner?

 

[Finman]

Give them a good scrub with 6% washing soda, taking the usual precautions for working with chemicals.

PH

if I do something I will do that

 

[Finman]

I use Oxallic Acid to remove "RUST" stains from the deck of GRP deck....
( must be chinese stainless fittings!), particularly where the anchor and chain sit on deck.
Have you thought of patio algae/ moss cleaner?

my boy's boat bottom is aluminium.(silverboat.fi)
Oxalic is ment to clean plastic surface.

My boy is a surgeon. Everything must be sure what he does. No experimental stuffs with his boat!

Actually we used pressure washer and it takes 99% of algae away. But some creatures were fixed tightly.

There is a point with which the boat slides over water in high speed. It shoud be clean as possible.

 

[Into the lions den]

Was talking to a gent yesterday of 86 who still runs 7 hives. He's kept bees for 62 years. He still uses his original hives.
Sorry, this is nothing to do with painting poly.

My father started with bees in the spring of 1950, and he built his first hives........Smiths.....in his mother and father's garden shed, in the winter of 1949, using yellow pine packing cases that had come into the UK as crates with tractors in them from the USA during the war,

Every one of those boxes remains in service today,

In 1952 and 54 he bought a reasonable amount of second hand equipment, also Smiths, from a couple of local beekeepers who were giving up. Some reputed to be pre war. Also still all in service today.

Father now 92, and though no longer mobile or allowed to drive, he interrogates me daily <G>........still very much the beeman at heart.

 

[Beeline]

When painting poly with masonry paint or gloss, do you have to apply a primer & undercoat first or do you just apply the masonry or gloss direct onto the poly?

I only want to paint two 14 x 12 poly nucs - went to Homebase today and the colours they in 2.5 litre were terrrible e.g. lime yellow, chocolate brown and dark grey. They will tint masonry but min size is 5 litres. Where did you find a light green or brown? Thanks.

 

[johnandyrob]

I just put the masonry paint straight onto the poly. I do water the paint down a bit so its no as thick. I got my paint mixed at b & q Im sure they do it in 2.5l tins.

 

[YorkshireBees]

I also painted straight onto poly hives. Seemed fine. I bought a larger can personally as I plan to have more polys soon anyway but as per johnandyrob I find that watering down the paint a little helps with applying it!

 

[Beeline]

Thanks for that confirmation.... and do you apply grit to the final masonry coat applied to the inside of the internal feeder or just roughen up the poly before applying paint.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Bought my first masonry Weathershield Brick red in 2.5ltr and thought it would last years. I am on my second can now. I dilute and spray this one. My 2.5ltr of Cuprinol Shades Iris blue for mating hives looks like it will outlast me The 2.5ltr Cuprinol Shades Somerset green for the Paynes nucs will now not do the recent additions so will have to buy more The 2.5ltr of Sandtex Silk Tree for the MBS nucs is yukky lime green! A bad choice. The 5ltr Delux mix of Woodland Pearl 1 seems to be the best buy by far....and the nicest colour (and cheapest), wish I had gone this route in the beginning. Just trying to pick another Delux colour now for the Langstroth hives. All paint is directly applied onto the poly. My latest Paynes 14 x 12 looking good in Delux Woodland Pearl 1.

 

[Swarm]

Continental beehive blue (can't remember the real name) silk emulsion applied direct.

 

[oliver90owner]

I bought a spit gun from Lidl. Not used it yet but should work OK with water based paints (and easy to clean). Thin the 'sales' paint and throw it on. Finish off with a decent paint/colour if possible. If not, there will be some more sale items sometime.

Line 'em up and spit it on. Best done on a warm day, I reckon. Painting with a brush is like hard work - you always miss bits (MB hand holds per eg) and you need contrasting colours (certainly not white on white).

I had a Burgess spit gun about 30 years ago, Hope this one is better than that - I can hand paint better than that. Still can't beat an air compessor gun for most things though.

RAB

 

[Hivemaker.]

I had a Burgess spit gun about 30 years ago, Hope this one is better than that - I can hand paint better than that.
RAB

You would of been better off going for a Devilbiss JGA 545,or Snap on BF 590.

 

[RoofTops]

Thanks for that confirmation.... and do you apply grit to the final masonry coat applied to the inside of the internal feeder or just roughen up the poly before applying paint.

The best idea is to spinkle coarse salt on the wet paint. Let it dry and then wash off the salt.

 

[oliver90owner]

You would of been better off going for a Devilbiss JGA 545,or Snap on BF 590.

I have compressor guns around. Thought that for a tenner, or so, I would try the spit gun for the hives. Only need to plug it in. Doubt if it is good enough for spraying the tractors. I can always throw it away after attempted use!

Regards, RAB