I bought a Flow Hive Classic Auraucaria 7 Frame.
I have read that you can use exterior house paint to seal the hive. What else can you seal the hive with if you do not use exterior paint. Please provide the name of the sealer.
Thank You
Bill
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Welcome to the forum Bill and a good question.
When I make new boxes I paint the out side and the top and bottom edges with a good quality water based exterior grade house paint and apply 3 good coats and don’t use a primer/sealer paint. When the paint is dry it is waterproof. Years ago I used enamel paint (oil based paint) but found it brittle when prizing the boxes apart with a hive tool and the paint chipped.
After 6 to 8 years and the appearance of the hive needs a recoat I apply 2 coats and it is good for another 6 years.
Cheers Bill
Peter,
Can you use something besides exterior paint, if so what brand product do you use?
Thanks,
Bill
For me, I used Intergrain UltraDeck, its still looks good after 5 years
Did you use this on a Flow Hive?
Thanks
Bill
For the climate where I live I paint my hives in white paint to have a minimum of heat build up in the hive from the sun. I use Taubmans brand paint but doubt you could buy it as it is an Australian made paint but am sure you could by an equivalent. It depends on your climate about an alternative, some folks treat the wood ware with a stain or an oil but it would cause an issue for me here.
Find your local bee group and ask what they use on their hives and how long it lasts between treatments.
Cheers.
Yep, however it is a customised super made from pine. So not the Cedar variety… yours is pine so same deal.
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Is the Intergrain Ultradeck similiar to Thompson’s Water Seal?
Bill
Don’t use Thompson’s Water Seal. Nasty product, and doesn’t protect that well. 
I have not used a sealant on pine hive, only paint. If you want to try a sealant, I have used this one on a cedar fence. It still has some toxic solvents in it, but if you apply it at least 4 weeks before you install the bees, they will off-gas first.
Personally on pine, I would go for paint though. 
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Thank You for the reply Dawn!
Is there a product in the USA that is similar to the Intergrain UltraDeck since I have not been able to find this.
Is there nothing that will seal a Araucaria Flow Hive except Exterior House Paint.
I was trying to get the natural wood look in the super and brood box. I plan on painting the roof with exterior house paint.
Hi Peter, for the cedar flow hive. Would you still use a water based outdoor paint? Or could I use a water or pil based polyutherane (clear)?
Hi Tracey, I’m all about the bees having the best of internal hive temperature and caring for my bees, in my climate all my hives are painted white to help in controlling heat. Some see a bee hive as a piece of beauty and as a garden feature, and that is fine providing it doesn’t cause stress to the colony.
A chap about 8 k’s away and the same climate with three Flow Hives that he had used polyurethane on and I’m mentoring has been many times to my apiary and has a few months ago painted his hives white and says they don’t have bearding since he painted them.
If you want a natural timber finish polyurethane seems to last well without it looking grubby. But as with any timber finish it will need re-coating after some years in the elements. You need to allow more than drying time with polyurethane to allow it to fume off completely before adding bees.
It really depends not only on your climate but if there is shade from the heat in Summer.
Whichever way you decide remember to treat the top and bottom edges where rain water can sit in the gap for days after any rain so preventing any moisture getting into the wood.
Cheers
I purchased a flow hive 2 cedar and sealed it with bees wax exterior only will this hold up or should I give it time to cure and use a sparr varnish? I love the natural wood look but don’t want to risk harming my bees. It’s not set up yet so I have until spring.
I too have the FH Cedar. I opted for 2 coats of 100% tung oil cut with 100% citrus oil to keep the natural look and because cedar is supposed to be quite resilient to the elements.
Looks great in the few weeks I’ve had it but from what I’ve heard the tung coating will absolutely fade away and provides no UV protection to the wood. Tung oil isn’t really ment to be outdoor and I’m in Brisbane Australia where our sun is very harsh.
Having now visited a few people with painted flow hives, I would go that route instead and will do so once my tung oil starts to fade away. Honestly the FH’s look stunning when painted nicely with a lightly tinted brood/flow box, contrasting roof and darker colour to paint the flow logo’s recess.
Painting after it’s been partially used will be monumentally harder as you need to put the bees somewhere temporarily (eg a 2nd brood box) and disassemble to paint between the joints…
Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess…
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