Wood Preservers

[RichardG]

Hello,
Does anyone know of a green coloured wood preserver that is safe to use on the exterior of hives, particularly supers. I understand Cuprinol clear is OK, but I really want to "camouflage" my hives a little if possible.
Many thanks
Richard

 

[MikeT]

Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Bee Assoc. hives are painted green and I am sure Pete D will be able to help

 

[madasafish]

I use Cuprinol Garden Shades - as a paint but it's a bit fragile when knocked..

 

[Davelin]

I use Cuprinol Garden Shades - as a paint but it's a bit fragile when knocked..

Ditto

 

[REDWOOD]

+1
If you ask Swarm he will tell you how he camouflaged his hives, trouble is he's still looking for them

 

[Amari]

My hives are made of pine so I preserve with clear Cuprinol then paint with green Cuprinol 'Ducksback' (following advice on this forum). If your hives are western red cedar they don't need preservative or paint.

 

[REDWOOD]

There's a good sticky about painting hives created by Hedgerowpete, worth a read

 

[peteinwilts]

You should find lots of posts in the DIY section of the forum.

I often use cupronol on softwood. In winter, it can takes weeks to dry.
I also often use ronseal ducksback which dry's quicker, so better when needed in a hurry, but washes off after 2-3 seasons.

cupronol is darker than ronseal, but in a hedgerow seems to blend in better.

Regardless of what you use, it should be non-toxic which will state 'safe with children and pets'.

Drab green sticks out like a sore thumb in dry grass, but great in an overgrown hedgerow.

A mix of brown and green makes a karki colour. If you under mix it you will get streaks to help break up the lines.

I will be trying different colour schemes over winter, including mottling. I have had a few attempts that look quite good when painted, but when used the camouflage is not effective.

 

[fatshark]

Ronseal Fence Life works pretty well and comes in a decent green.
http://bit.ly/1ssXQ6H
Don't believe the one coat nonsense though ...

 

[itma]

Hello,
Does anyone know of a green coloured wood preserver that is safe to use on the exterior of hives, particularly supers. I understand Cuprinol clear is OK, but I really want to "camouflage" my hives a little if possible.
Many thanks
Richard

Cuprinol Garden Shades "Old English Green" is a respectable 'sludge' green that should work well as camouflage. /// However, breaking up the outline is the trick to proper camouflage - matching textures as well as colour.

I use it on my Paynes polys, and the bees are fine with it.

However, it would be a shame to use it on cedar. Cuprinol Clear does make cedar look very smart indeed …

 

[VEG]

I use cuprinol ducks back

 

[KitzTaz]

I can not Remember what the make of paint I used for my out apairy but I do know that green paint was just as good as day-glo-orange come late summer/autumn, now found that a darkish brown works wonders in all seasons

 

[madasafish]

I also use Ronseal 5 year Woodstain in brown http://www.ronseal.co.uk/products/5-year-woodstain

 

[biglongdarren]

the last new redwood hives i had made all got two coats of creosote on the outside and let sit for nearly 8months, be interesting to see how long it keeps them for.

Darren

 

[Little John]

I'm using polyurethane floor paint - as used on factory and garage floors etc - touch dry in an hour, pretty tough after 24 hrs.
Pongs a bit, so I leave boxes to 'mature' if I've painted the insides for any reason.

Best bit is that 'left-over' cans are often sold at boot sales for silly money, 'cause no-one has any use for the odd can of 'floor paint'.

LJ

 

[alanf]

Ronseal Fencelife was on a 2 for 1, but any of the water based fence preservers would do much the same on the outer surfaces. Look for "harmless to plants and animals when dry" or similar. Big tub of own brand versions are around a tenner. Basic operation is it adds some UV and water protection, make sure the end grain is covered. Pretty much every version has green and brown shades if you wanted that military "camo" look.

 

[yeogi75]

painted with standard fence paint green, as you said a bit camouflage in summer but sticks out like sore thumb in snow. mine are fence paint green

 

[RichardG]

Thank you for your replies and advice.
I admit to being lazy and a cheapskate. I usually brush down the supers, give them two coats of Cuprinol Clear Wood Preserver, which I always understood was safe on the exterior surfaces, and then two coats of linseed. This requires no real preparation and drying time is not a problem because I let them stand in the garage until dry, and do something else.
I thought if I could find a green tinted wood preserver i would get a green tinted super (admittedly muddied by the linseed).
A little bit of internet research revealed a couple (eg. Lumberjack and Kingfisher) that fit the bill, but with specific warnings not to use on bee hives. Looking at the msds sheets the main hazardous ingredient seems to be propiconazole. The active ingredient in Cuprinol Clear is propiconizole. Is this the same thing? Google seems to think they are alternative spellings and they have the same CAS NO. (whatever that is).
So, is Cuprinol Clear safe after all? or what don't I understand, not being a chemist?
Regards
Richard

 

[itma]

…
So, is Cuprinol Clear safe after all? …

Old-formula (no longer available) Cuprinol Clear did have some form of bee-friendly certification.
However, they changed the formulation (only very slightly I understand from this forum) and didn't think it worth spending money on a new rubber stamp! Plenty of people use the Cuprinol "Garden Shades" range - Homebase have the biggest specimen charts for the colours (and sometimes some tester pots at about £1.50) but non necessarily the best deals.


Once upon a time, hive boxes were soaked in creosote so, inside and out … and left for a very long time to 'air' before being cheerfully used for the bees.
Bees survived, no mass poisonings of humans reported … but probably not, in light of current knowledge, the best for bees or honey. Even if the boxes never rotted and did last 50 years.

 

[Amari]

the last new redwood hives i had made all got two coats of creosote on the outside and let sit for nearly 8months, be interesting to see how long it keeps them for.

Darren

You won't live long enough to find out! No need to preserve WRCedar.