Painting Poly Hives

[BMH]

Following on from some advice on here, I am in the process of painting my poly hives.

Doing it 1 by 1 and transferring frames over once its warmed up enough to do inspections as I have 1 spare hive anyway.

Was not sure what paint to get and had seen sandtex was used by a few but its pricey stuff and the colour palette is poor.

Went to B&Q and they have the valspar mixing machine. They do an exterior masonry paint and you can pick from 2.2 million colours! Far too much choice.

The best thing is the sample pots are huge (250ml) and really cheap for what it it is. Only £2.30 a pot!!

The lady reckoned it was 10m2 per litre coverage. I have found that 1 sample pot is enough for 2 coats for a roof, 2 supers and a brood box.

Whats nice is you can have different colours for each of the hives without breaking the bank.

Will post some pics once they are all finished.

I appreciate some people dont care what they look like and can get a 5 litre pot of magnolia for a tenner but I like things to look nice as they are in my garden...

 

[Into the lions den]

Lots of conflicting advice. Some of it good, some of it less so.

We have thousands of poly boxes and we paint ALL the outer surfaces of the hive with decent grade GLOSS oil based paint with a little thinners (to the recommended level for a sprayer) added. It bonds very well to the surface of the poly and seems as if it will last a lifetime, as will the boxes. Our first wave of painted ones are now 16 years in service and most look very fresh.

Where masonry paint comes into its own is the internal surfaces of the feeders. In an external situation, water based masonry paint on poly does eventually flake a bit, a problem that does not happen using oil based paints.


But then, if you buy the recommended box paint from some poly makers they sell a water based paint, others oil based.

 

[BMH]

Ah. That wasn't what I wanted to hear!

The advice I was given was that it had to be water based as the oil based could effect the integrity of the poly. Clearly that's untrue!

Oh well, I will plod along with the masonry paint and see what happens. I suppose the reason I am painting them is so they look less conspicuous and not so much to do with their longevity.

Here's a questions. If it does start to flake and look tatty can I just spray over the top with some gloss/thinners in my spray gun or would i need to go back to poly to get it to adhere properly?

 

[Curley]

How does the paint stand up to cleaning ? i have avoided painting mine so far because last year I cleaned my (unpainted) poly nucs by immersing them in a clean wheelie bin filled with water, washing soda and a good slug of bleach. Got all the propolis and wax off after a 24 hour soak and a bit of a scrub. Had to do them one at a time but I felt it did a good job. Would the paint stand up to such a regime?

 

[BMH]

I would imagine the gloss would stand up just fine!

Oh jeez. Why didn't I ask this question before buying the bleeding paint!!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Following on from some advice on here, I am in the process of painting my poly hives.

Doing it 1 by 1 and transferring frames over once its warmed up enough to do inspections as I have 1 spare hive anyway.

Was not sure what paint to get and had seen sandtex was used by a few but its pricey stuff and the colour palette is poor.

Went to B&Q and they have the valspar mixing machine. They do an exterior masonry paint and you can pick from 2.2 million colours! Far too much choice.

The best thing is the sample pots are huge (250ml) and really cheap for what it it is. Only £2.30 a pot!!

The lady reckoned it was 10m2 per litre coverage. I have found that 1 sample pot is enough for 2 coats for a roof, 2 supers and a brood box.

Whats nice is you can have different colours for each of the hives without breaking the bank.

Will post some pics once they are all finished.

I appreciate some people dont care what they look like and can get a 5 litre pot of magnolia for a tenner but I like things to look nice as they are in my garden...

Type of paint etc aside all my hives are dull green or dull brown so as to avoid advertising their presence to outsiders.

 

[Poly Hive]

I painted gloss over my emulsioned nucs and sorry to say it is flaking off badly after only a couple of years. Thought to share this info to avoid anyone else suffering it.

My emulsioned units are in good shape and I will freshen them up probably over the winter now I have the "luxury" of everything being empty.

PH

 

[BMH]

Thanks for the heads up.

I wont try to gloss over the ones ive already painted.

Might gloss a couple of the ones Im yet to start and see what difference it makes.

I quite like the fact the masonry paint is matt and it has actually come out nice.

Suppose I can always freshen them up in the off season if needed.

 

[Newtobees]

I use B&Q Colours exterior gloss water based in buckingham green looks goods and seems to be much better wearing than santex on my paynes poly's.

 

[Swarm]

Don't stress over the type of paint, I doubt your hives will see half the attention ITLD's will. The stuff you bought will be just fine.

 

[BMH]

thanks for the reassurance!

That's a very good point..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Don't stress over the type of paint

Oh....I think he should.
Show him how you painted yours

 

[Into the lions den]

I painted gloss over my emulsioned nucs and sorry to say it is flaking off badly after only a couple of years. Thought to share this info to avoid anyone else suffering it.

Lol Pete.....that's nothing to do with them being poly................just the paints are non compatible. Would be just the same if you did it to your garden shed.

FWIW the attached picture is of boxes 15 years in service at the time. See comments after the pic.



You will notice the error made at the first use of poly feeders. The ones that are grey and dirty looking are all mildewed on the outside, have not been painted INSIDE prior to use. The walls become impregnated with syrup and the mildew flourishes. The ones that are still white are only a year younger but DID get the masonry paint inside.

Also... washing soda immersion does little damage (but some) to the coat of paint on the outside. We rarely immerse unless there has been foulbrood around, and then it will be caustic solution. Caustic strips the paint off and after a thorough rinse and dry you need to repaint. This would be a rare event for most.

ps. Ignore the Italy trip14 tag on the photo....its actually near Alyth in Perthshire, and the pic just ended up in the wrong file.

 

[madasafish]

used Hammerite Garage Paint. Now three years old - no flaking..
Easy to wash... bonds with the poly..

 

[linoleum bonypart]

By the way you can have sandtex mixed to any colour you want

 

[theeggman]

Lol Pete.....that's nothing to do with them being poly................just the paints are non compatible. Would be just the same if you did it to your garden shed.

.

ITLD, You're doing what we're trying to do on a much smaller scale. You've been there do that etc. and pass on your knowledge.

Please stay with the forum even when it goes into c**p mode.

 

[Poly Hive]

Pssssssssssst ITLD

I knows it ain't the poly and I was annoyed at myself as I really should have realised as I was the paint foreman at one point in my offshore years.

PH

 

[Into the lions den]

PSSSSTT Polyhive........

LOL...I happened to know that.

Knowing you are a sensitive soul (much like myself) I edited the bit about 'the rigs' out and substituted 'garden shed'........<G>

 

[pargyle]

I've used Garden Shades on mine, also the B&Q Garden Shades 'Lookalike' and the even cheaper Aldi Garden Shades 'Lookalike'. All have stood up well to the weather and no signs of peeling or deterioration of any sort. Takes a few coats to completely cover but it's water based and it's easy to wash my brushes out.

The one hive that has not been painted is looking pretty mucky after just one winter so I would say you really DO need to paint them .. with what doesn't seem to matter much.

 

[BrianO]

Lol Pete.....that's nothing to do with them being poly................just the paints are non compatible. Would be just the same if you did it to your garden shed.

FWIW the attached picture is of boxes 15 years in service at the time. See comments after the pic.

View attachment 12803

You will notice the error made at the first use of poly feeders. The ones that are grey and dirty looking are all mildewed on the outside, have not been painted INSIDE prior to use. The walls become impregnated with syrup and the mildew flourishes. The ones that are still white are only a year younger but DID get the masonry paint inside.

Also... washing soda immersion does little damage (but some) to the coat of paint on the outside. We rarely immerse unless there has been foulbrood around, and then it will be caustic solution. Caustic strips the paint off and after a thorough rinse and dry you need to repaint. This would be a rare event for most.

ps. Ignore the Italy trip14 tag on the photo....its actually near Alyth in Perthshire, and the pic just ended up in the wrong file.

Ok that answers another question, as in do need to internally paint poly feeders to seal them.

Though was and still am concerned doing so might end up with some paint chemical leeching into the feed , as basically paint coating would be submerged in syrup solution for an extended period which paint is not designed for. Or is this not a problem ?

Thanks