From: "Nathan W. Lawrence" <[log in to unmask]>


> as long as I keep my priming,
> sealing, and painting to the outside of the hive,

  One of the tired mythologies that gets passed along from beekeeper to
beekeeper is to not paint the insides of the hives. Yet some of the best
beekeepers I know dip the entire box in paint to achieve thorough coverage
inside and out. As long as the paint is dry when used, the bees don't care a
bit. And you will not have frames dropping thru the hives, because the
boards cupped over time. The paint on each side of the wood equalized the
passage of moisture on both sides of the board, and hives that were dipped
will remain straight as can be for many years.

    Note also that paint does very little to protect the wood from rotting.
This is another common misconception. It is important that the wood be kept
as dry as possible to forestall rotting. Rot will occur whenever wood is wet
for long periods, whether it is painted or not.

Dave Green   SC  USA
The Pollination Home Page (Now searchable): http://pollinator.com