Pros and Cons of painting the inside of a hive body.

[RHBee]

I would like to explain why I'm asking this question in the general forum. It kinda falls in the building and pest control sections but because it's two subjects I'll throw it out here.
I live in an area where the SHB has a strong presence. I am constructing my hives this year out of recycled lumber. Because of this the lumber has nail holes, cracks and crevices. These are prime egg laying opportunities for the female SHB. Last year I studied this beast extensively and found that the females have a long ovipositor which makes them able to lay eggs in areas that the bees can't patrol and clean. I am planning to use latex caulk and paint on the interior of my boxes to do away these issues. I want to make these boxes as inhospitable to SHB as I can. I have always read not to paint the interior of the hives but don't understand why. I believe that hives painted with latex paint and properly dried would do no harm to the bees.
I hope that some of you guys won't mind  explaining the Cons that you can see in this plan.

[hardwood]

The bees will propolize any little hole right quick, probably before the beetles can find it. If you're worried just melt a little wax into the hole.

Scott

[AllenF]

I would not worry about little nail holes.  Wood putty and glue can fill in what you need also if you are short on wax. 

[don2]

The SHB would eat the wax any how. Use a good wood glue and saw dust if the holes are any size and give a day or two for it to air out. I would not paint the inside. D-2

[Joe D]

Bees will fill the holes, but on some I have filled corners and holes with liquid nails.  That may not be good but I have just to try to make it harder for SHB's.
Good luck




Joe

[Finski]

.
It important to clean inside walls sometimes with flame and paint makes that only worse.
When you paint walls outside, you may hit a wooden stick into the hole, if it needs it. (wooden nail).

[Nate]

Why waste the money and time?  :-\

[Finski]

Why waste the money and time?  :-\

Most hobby beekeepers do that.

Most of these tricks on forum are such which bees do not need.

[oliver]

I remember  coating the inside of new  boxes with shellac, for my Grandpa, idea being raw wood absorbs and retains moisture which promotes mold mildew and who knows what else. I use polyurathane, with no adverse affects.. Not promoting this  practice, it is what he did and I do.. dl

[RHBee]

Why waste the money and time?  :-\

Most hobby beekeepers do that.

Most of these tricks on forum are such which bees do not need.

Your both right. Finski, I am a hobbyist and Nate, I agree this does take extra time and money. Given my current depth of involvement in beekeeping I'm able to experiment and waste money seeking solutions to problems I may encounter. The SHB was "In my face" more than any other issue I had last year. I just want to find a solution.
I'm able understand that as a keeper of many colonies commercial or side-liners just don't have the time or inclination to play with such things as this. It's a lot like bottom oil traps or things like sloping landing boards or fancy hive stands. I understand that from their perspective and in order to protect their profitability these things are a waste. I'm certainly not advocating that these guys need to rush to implement any of these practices.
I have grown quite attached to these bugs. I enjoy my hobby it gives me an escape from my regular job. Where I work it's dusty, hot and dangerous. With the bees "you can't see the air" and yet, it's not easy. These creatures face issues that they can't overcome by themselves. Oh, I guess with a couple of thousand years natural selection would solve the issues of varroa or SHB. I just don't have that long. In my profession I have to seek solutions to complex problems, come up with ways to make things better and then implement them. This is simply spilling over to my beekeeping. If I could I would dip my hives in hot wax and resin but I just don't have the space for that equipment yet.
Now that you all have a better understanding about where I'm coming from: All I want to know is: What possible harm this could do to my bees.
Everyone, Thank you for your time. I know that it's something all of us are short of.

[Finski]

 All I want to know is: What possible harm this could do to my bees.

When you clean with frame the surfaces of boxes, you get there stink of burned paint. What idea is to coat boxes with burned paint?

No one paint his hives inside ( in full sense)

.

[T Beek]

For new woodenware "insides" I'll just melt a little clean comb down and paint liberally.  I 'believe' my bees like it better than fresh wood.  :)

Outsides get whatever light exterior paint I can find.

[Michael Bush]

Hmmm... I quit painting the outside... I never painted the inside...

[RHBee]

Ok, Ok I get the message. I'll see what happens with the SHB this year w/o paint inside. No paint on the outside also Michael. Thanks for the help.

[Finski]

Ok, Ok I get the message. I'll see what happens with the SHB this year w/o paint inside. No paint on the outside also Michael. Thanks for the help.

Wood will be ruined quite soon if you do not paint

.

[JPBEEGETTER]

I make all my hives out of CYPRESS , coat the out side with Thompsons water seal (Honey Gold in color) works for me.

[T Beek]

Hmmm... I quit painting the outside... I never painted the inside...

Forever the ultimate "lazy" beekeeper  :)

[Finski]

.
What happens to unpainted wood outdoors?

- in sun it cracks
- in rain it absorbs water and is more of less wet
- many kind of microbia grows on it, like mold and algae
- dirty, honey what ever goes into the wood

[10framer]

ray,
being the idiots we are we bred the tendency to use a lot of propolis out of the domestic bees.  if you are into raising your own queens focus on the hives that use a lot of propolis.  you'll probably notice that those hives have less beetles than others in general.  it makes for a sticky mess in the summer but it doesn't leave the shb much room to play either.  i would lean more toward that plan of attack than any other.  i don't do sqaut to the inside of my boxes.

[10framer]

as far as not painting goes, bees regulate the conditions inside the hive so if you choose to not paint inside or out i don't think you run any risks of mold or bacteria etc.  i do think your equipment will rot sooner, though.  i've skipped the paint process before and i don't think it affected the bees in any way. 

[Farm 779]

I use bee wax as T Beek described. I heat up the wood with a weed burner to enable the wood to soak up wax and finish the wood with a slightly burnt appearance (which hardens the wood).

[CapnChkn]

Unless I've been terribly misinformed, Bees don't just use the propolis to fill cracks, they varnish the entire interior.  As far as latex paint, it wouldn't hurt the bees, they'll just chew it off.  I've also been waxing the outside of my boxes, unless there's paint on it already, then I paint.

[T Beek]

I've found that bees tend to put propolis everywhere I don't want it  :shock:, so I pretty much gave up removing it from every thing and now collect a little bit for sale.........its worth some dough and easy to harvest.

[fshrgy99]

Haven't been a beek for long but I have made a bit of outdoor furniture. For the furniture I bought a gallon of rosewood oil (expensive though) and it did a great job. Since I had it around I used it on my boxes too but only the outside. Time will tell.
Have also used Sikkens Cetol (on cedar furniture) which does a good job and will use the rest of that when the oil is used up. Also expensive.
Have left the interior natural for the bees. I like the idea of waxing them a lot.
Did I mention that I hate peeling paint?

[Bee Happy]

I've seen evidence of my bees propolizing the SHB into tight spaces.
I saw something about the Australian stingless bees having a strong tendency to do that, so I went outside and showed the video to mine - seems they got the message. (You know this bit's facetious, right?)
They HAVE been showing a tendency to corner and trap the SHB though, and when I open the hive I wind up turning the SHB loose if I can't squish them quick. ...If bees could roll their eyes.

[jredburn]

Common wisdom says don't paint the inside.  This was probably good advice when the only paint we had was made with Lead.  Since Latex -paint was invented a long time later, no one every tried it on the inside.
However, if you coat the inside with Latex, the SHB hate it.  They will not lay their eggs in Latex painted wood.  I had 7 hives painted and the bees could not have cared less.  They will live in steel drums, old cars, clay pots, plastic water meter boxes,  out in the open on tree limbs, etc.  I live in SW Florida and SHB are a very real problem.  My seven hives did very well for the two months I had them in painted boxes.  Then a bear got them.
The SHB also hate light,  so if you put a translucent top cover on the hive, throw away the inner cover and put on a screened bottom board, you will have eliminated 90 % of the places they can lay their eggs.  The only place left is in the comb and the bees are all over that.
BTW the paint was not my idea originally, it comes from a friend of mine who is head of the ethomolgy dept at a large univer sity on the Left Coast.
FWIW
Regards
Joe

[RHBee]

Thanks Joe,
Sorry to hear about the bear. I'm gonna try the paint on the worst of my hive bodies.  The problem with using recycled wood is that it's some times warped. I have no boards that are 6 5/8" wide so I have to rip and join to make the correct width. This can create a gap the length of the body.
I put a 2" board all around the outside to create a single body. This also serves as a hand hold for lifting. All parts have tight bond III applied liberally.