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I ordered some citrus solvent diluted Tung oil for my flow hive. The company (Real Milk Paint) sent me an “outdoor defense oil” by mistake. This has Tung oil, pine solvent, and zinc - think this is ok to use on the outside of the hive? Can I used this for the base coat and then use pure Tung for the additional coats?
Should I do a base coat prior to assembly to make sure I get absorption in all the joints? Or will this make it too hard to assemble?
Thanks!
I would not use it at all. It will off gas for quite a while. Just my opinion. You need a food safe product.
According to the product listing, it is food contact safe. All these tung oil products say they need 30 days for full cure - not sure how long any solvent off-gassing will take…
It might be OK, but for something that may off-gas for a while, I prefer to avoid it. If I had no choice, I would give it 2 months to cure.
That may be OK for you, as you are probably too late in this season to start a hive, unless you can buy a full hive from somebody who is retiring. Most nectar flows in the US start to drop off in July. There are some regional flows in Fall, but generally not enough to start a new colony.
I am not planning to start a hive this season, so cure time is not an issue - it will have 9 months…
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Sort of off the topic but what if I capture a suicide swarm and feed them heavily? Or got some frames of honey and put them in?