Finishing oil or paint on the hive

Yes better with water based exterior paint 2 to 3 coats will last for many years. That type of decking oil is solvent based, you can get water based but either will only last a couple of years tops before requiring recoats. If it is cedar it will still hold up well with oil but if the pine then paint is best.

1 Like

Thanks @Dan2 and @Gaz. You guys are awesome. I will buy the paint today and paint both inside as well as outside. :+1::clap:

I really wouldn’t paint inside. Several reasons. What @Dan2 said about wood rot may be true for unsealed wood, but I promise you, the bees will wax the inside of the hive walls pretty quickly. It is what they do in trees, when they build a hive there. They prefer raw unpainted wood. The layers of wax that they apply to the inside of the box is enough to seal the wood. I have seen condensation beading on the inner walls on a cold day. They do a good job, I don’t see any reason for you to put something extraneous on the inside.

In fact, if you paint it, some bees will even chew the paint off. Even if it is non-toxic, I don’t want chewed paint in my honey or wax. Just my opinion. :blush:

2 Likes

I’ve tried to research the issue further for what it’s worth. I remember reading somewhere that some beekeepers like to leave the inside of the hive unpainted to allow moisture to go into the wood, thereby taking it away from the frames and bees. I can’t find where I read that now, but that was the gist of it.

It seems the Australian Beekeeping guide suggest to paint inside and out. Same for the bottom board (to protect from condensation inside the hive) and to pay, “particular attention to the frame areas inside the box where condensation can accumulate”.

I have noticed on some unpainted pine boxes I have, black mould has developed on areas of the walls of the boxes; presumably those areas have had water beading on them for some length of time in the hive. The mould has penetrated the wood (like it does to silicone in the bathroom) and presumably if it had remained moist for long enough, it would start to decay through actions of the mould and the like.

The ex-commercial boxes I have that have been painted inside, do not appear to have had the paint chewed off nor do they appear to have mould on them and are in excellent condition, although presumably of some age. I’m not sure what timber they are, but I doubt they are hardwood. On the other had, the painted (inside) ex-commercial bottom board (plywood), seems to have had the paint thoroughly chewed off by the bees, although it may have started to lift off anyway because of the age of the paint job and perhaps greater wear and moisture levels there.

At this stage, some of my boxes are painted inside, and some not. Kind of an ongoing experiment!

3 Likes

For bees, painting the hive while complying with all the rules and regulations will also have a positive impact. If light paint is chosen for work, the microclimate in the bee house is optimized, the risk of overheating is reduced. Insects on approach better recognize their hive and stop confusing it with neighboring (this statement is true if different hives are painted differently). Ultimately, according to the best wood stein review, paint reduces the risk of infectious diseases, as bees from contaminated hives stop entering healthy homes. Is there a transparent acrylic paint for wood?