> Subject: [BEE-L] Vs: Re: [BEE-L] Repair and painting polystyrene hives > > > 'Hives of this polyester > type must be painted for UV protection.' > > Well that's what most people say. But last year I come by a > beekeeper who does not paint. And looks like it works. UV > radiation turns the surface yellow My hives are original white polystyrene hives now more than thirty years old. I painted those with a thin layer of green water based house painting when I bought those,and have never painted since, but for some reason I forgot two supers, and I never got to paint those. So they are still in use unpainted. I just took a look at those unpainted boxes, and I must admit that they still can be used as part of a hive, even the surface is not that smooth any longer. The surface now looks like if you have a rough broken polystyrene plate. I think that those boxes will follow me unpainted throuh the rest of my beekeeping life but I do not think I can sell those. Best regards Jorn Johanesson Only Multilingual software for beekeeping on the net. With integrated update facility hive note- queen breeding and handheld computer beekeeping software since 1997 now version 7.0.1.4 home page = HTTP://apimo.dk e-mail [log in to unmask] :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::