# Bought the hives, ordered the bees....



## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Thought I'd stop in and say hello. I've been taking a class up in Madison on bee keeping for a couple weeks~ yesterday I bought 2 hives and ordered the bee's. The man at Werners in town talked me into going with the medium supers as hive bodies~ says they will be easier for me to move than deeps and that two will be ok as a hive body. I'm planning to start the assembly this week so I can get everything painted and cured well before the bee's get here in April. I have a question to start with though~ the movie at the class the man was painting the bare wood of the hive bodies with copper something before he painted the outside with latex. The man at the store in town didn't know what that was and when I came home to look for the product online I see some discussion that painting the hive bodies with copper contributes to winter die off....Whats been the exp of the people here?
Thanks!


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

I am taking classes too. My bees are on order and I am ordering hives next week. I never heard of using copper. All of the bee keepers here leave the wood bare inside and just paint the outside. The bees will coat the inside with propolis soon enough. What was the purpose of the copper?


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

keep the wood from rotting as fast in the corners where the wood grain is exposed


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

Welcome to beekeeping...I've always just painted the exterior of my hives with light coloured exterior paint...they hold up just fine.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

Yes, only paint the EXTERIOR of the hive, not on the inside where the bees will be!

The only thing I can think of with "copper" is something to prevent mold/mildew/rot. When I painted my hives, I bought a mildew resistant primer, put a coat of it on, and then once it was dried, I put on the exterior paint.

I had bought my hive bodies from Mann Lake, and they have mildew resistant primer and then paint (it's expensive), so I went to my local hardware store and got a mildew resistant primer and exterior paint.

So far, my hives are holding up, although they were just put together and painted last Spring so have only seen one season out in the weather.


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## johng (Feb 14, 2009)

It was copper naptante (sp) its a wood preserver. Most people don't use it any more.


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

> movie at the class the man was painting the bare wood of the hive bodies with copper something before he painted the outside with latex.


By any chance was the movie "A Year in the Life of an Apiary" with Dr. Keith Delaplane of Univ. Georgia? He made it around 1993 and at the time, (as Johng notes) many people were treating beehives with copper naphthenate as a wood preservative.

I had the chance to hear Dr. Delaplane speak awhile back and he noted that of all the outdated material on the video, the ONE thing he really wishes he could delete is the recommendation for using copper napthenate. Studies have shown that it's bad for bees - messes with their brains and inhibits learning.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Just go to the paint store and buy what ever OOP'S exterior paint they have on hand.
We only use fence and deck stain. Normally 20 to 25 dollars a gallon near 100.00 a gallon in 5 gallons pails.
We pay $5.00 per gallon and $15.00 Per 5 gallons. You will be suprized how much they have on hand. Only time it is in short supply is when they do the paint the city campain is going on. Paint the end grains real well allow to dry and paint them again. Several coats will protect the end grain just fine.

I have also many hive bodies painted on the inside. The bees don't seem to mind at all. I also think it helps to keep the amount of burr comb and proplis down.
We painted the interior because the the hives were used and I had scorched them. sanding didn't remove every speck of char and the girls were getting it in the drawn comb.

We also will rotate hive bodys out about every 10 years and restain them.

 Al


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I really appreciate all the help in this forum, thanks so much!


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