BBKA Forum

I've an old shallow roofed maisemore nuc that's getting scruffy.
It's sun faded and syrup blackened,
the wasps have gnawed into the feeder,the bees have enlarged the entrance( the disc was half shut for their protection) and the previous owner had clearly used a hammer and chisel to open it when propolised.
My own contribution was to overdo the ratchet strap over winter and made the whole thing banana shaped.

My plan is to blank off the rusty mesh and let it see out its days as a bait hive.
I've read the slight translucence of poly is a turn off for bees so I will try painting it.
This goes against the grain for me - chipped flaky paint looks worse than no paint at all.
I'm sure I've seen somewhere that oil
based paint is considered better than house paint as it welds itself to the surface
As the nuc is a mess anyway .......

Any advance on this , experiences etc?

I paint my Abelo poly hives and Maisies poly nucs with Valspar masonry paint. Of course any masonry paint will do but you can get tester pots made to a colour of your choosing at branches of a large DIY chain. I think it was £3 a pot and they go quite far.

So yeah, masonry paint. If yours is old, dirty and/or scruffy then it probably needs a good scrub first. I use water and washing soda crystals. Painted over a mouldy inspection board and it still looks decent.

I use floor paint which is fairly hard wearing..

Cuprinol garden shades works for me on wood or Poly.

I've used green masonry paint so far on poly. (I did have some blue and terracotta paint that I used but it didn't look very special). I have some blue Mini-plus nucs that arrives yesterday fro Abelo. They might finish up green very soon, as blue stands out like a sort thumb.

I also so give the inside of the poly broods a coat or three of good varnish to make cleaning up easier, the Abelo design is excellent with the nylon/ABS integrated in to the box top and bottom.
My pair of Swienty broods have no such design so a coat or three of varnish as well on the top/bot edge as well as the top rebate/runner space.

Is that water or solvent based varnish?
If the latter has the surface been dramatically shrivelled?
I wish I could remember where I saw the article.The guy had used oil/ solvent based stuff but I didn't read on as was repelled at the vision of chipped and scuffed coverings further down the line.
Plus seeing pictures of apiaries where hives have been painted in one colour each then the components mixed - like Satan's fairground.

Solvent based quick dry time, requires white spirit to clean brushes.
No surface damage or shrivelling, I used Ronseal ultra tough hard glaze varnish from Wilco.

The Swienty's were my first poly broods I bought 4 or 5 years ago and found them not great the top and bottom edges have no protection and propolis sticking well to the unprotected poly interior. Three coats of thin varnish gives the surface a more durable surface to soak/wash and clean up without damaging the poly. One can't scrap away like timber as the varnish to poly contact might chip away but for scrubbing with nylon or a stainless one pad it adds surface durability.

The Abelo's solve the top /bot and runner contact area's perfectly, the internal walls still in my view benefit from a coating to add durability for cleaning.

One poly hive in full sun and the paint has slightly bubbled on one side, I suspect it might be where the paint hasn't taken very well as I hadn't prepped the previous coat.

Don't forget to check the can to see what it says about "safe for bees" that may well chew what you put on.....
Cuprinol Garden Shades "believed to be safe for animals when dry" - what does that mean? Is that a definite maybe?
Anything with solvents - personally, I'd avoid..... or check with manufacturer.
Danish oil works well and lasts for years but not sure about painting poly???