paint?

[mattjm1017]

Im wondering if I can get away with using interior paint outside if I use the clear coat spray stuff on top of it? I have a bee hive that will sit primarily inside and go outside for maybe at the most a couple months out the year. Its bare wood right now and I need to paint it I know I should just go to the store and by some exterior grade paint but I have lots of leftover paint from inside the house and the box is pretty small so I don't need a lot of paint not even a quart so does anyone think that I can get away with using interior paint outside or should I just go buy some exterior grade paint?

 

[jharkin]

I assume you are thinking about polyurethane clear coat. Biggest question is, is poly compatible with acrylic latex.... Have to ask a paint shop to be sure.

If you try it, I'd use a water based poly like minwax polycrylic, and let the latex cure a month or so before clear coating it.

 

[granpajohn]

I suppose, technically, I have done this.

Artistic wife painted a garden statue with various acrylic (I think) colors. The sort that comes in a tube. I knew it wouldn't last out in the weather, so gave it a real good clear coat. It still looks great after 4 years.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what paint I used, but I seem to recall that it was one of the automotive wheel paints.

IMO, the wood -vs- resin construction of the hive -vs- the statue will be the undoing. I find that wood just does not hold paint well.

Worth a shot, I say.

 

[StihlHead]

Interior paint has less resin, latex and pigment than exterior, and it will not last very long outside. Sun will fade it faster, water will likely penetrate it, and it is designed to be easy to apply and clean, whereas exterior paint will be more durable. I would use silicon water seal rather than clear coat on top of the interior paint to make it more water proof. I have used that to good effect on house siding.

For a bee hive that is only outside a few months a year, it may not matter. I painted my hives different colors so that the bees could easily ID the hive that they belonged to. I had several supers stacked next to each other on RR ties outside year round. They all fell prey to CCD in the winter of '06/'07 and simply vanished.

 

[granpajohn]

I painted my hives different colors so that the bees could easily ID the hive that they belonged to.

What smart bees.

 

[mattjm1017]

Interior paint has less resin, latex and pigment than exterior, and it will not last very long outside. Sun will fade it faster, water will likely penetrate it, and it is designed to be easy to apply and clean, whereas exterior paint will be more durable. I would use silicon water seal rather than clear coat on top of the interior paint to make it more water proof. I have used that to good effect on house siding.

For a bee hive that is only outside a few months a year, it may not matter. I painted my hives different colors so that the bees could easily ID the hive that they belonged to. I had several supers stacked next to each other on RR ties outside year round. They all fell prey to CCD in the winter of '06/'07 and simply vanished.

This is just for a nuc for swarm collection or a walk away split. I think Im just going to wait for some exterior paint to show up in the screw up shelf at lowes. Im sorry about your bees I really hate to hear about people losing them they really are struggling here lately.

 

[StihlHead]

CCD is a global bee pandemic that really hit hard in '07. In Europe they think its the combination of varroa mites carrying deformed wing virus. I think they are right. Here in the US the gov't just released a long winded and stupid report stating that CCD could be any number of factors, but 90% of them were not factors where I had my bees (well away from any GMO crops, pollution, pesticides, bad environment, etc.).

Interesting way to catch a split/swarm. My hives were set up with the intention that they swarm away from the hives into the wild around the ranch that I was living on. I wanted lots of bees for more pollination of the berries and fruit trees there. The first few years in the early 00's it worked great. Then they all declined in a hurry.

When I go to HD and Lowes I look at the oops paint that they have. I also go to the Habitat ReStore where they sell a lot of paint for $5 a gallon. If you do not care about the exact color, that is a great place to get paint of all types.