FAQ's
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Hello! I intend to paint/protect the exterior part of my beehives in the spring. The beehives will not be in the bee house, but outdoors, exposed to the rain, sun, wind and cold. I would like to know which coating you would recommend for a good protection of wood, which would at the same time have a minimum effect on the sensitive bees and their products.
In your case, we recommend using the environmentally-friendly water-based coating for wood, BORI.
The beehive and hive panels should not be coated with products containing biocides. We only recommend using the shaded BORI woodstain in 3 coats. The drying time between individual coats should be at least 3 hours.
Before assembling the beehives, we recommend coating all transversal cuts with BORI woodstain, as this is where wood absorbs the most water which consequently leads to the drying of the paint.
It is very important that the wood is dry before the painting.
Can TESSAROL enamel be used to coat the exterior sides of beehives?
For the protection of external walls of beehives and hive panels, we recommend a systematic protection with TESSAROL acrylic paints, whereas the beehive interior should not be protected with any type of coating.
TESSAROL acrylic paints are top coats on the basis of water-based binders, they dry quickly, have no unpleasant odour, and can be thinned with water if required, which is also used to clean the tools after use. TESSAROL acrylic primer for wood and TESSAROL acrylic enamel (ready-made shades) are compliant with SIST EN 71-3 and SIST EN 71-9 certificates (suitable for toys).
Apply 1 coat of TESSAROL acrylic primer for wood onto a suitably prepared surface, and sand it after 4 – 6 hours, after which apply 2 more coats of TESSAROL acrylic enamel in the desired shade. The second enamel coat should be applied 8-10 hours after the first one.
The working conditions also play an important part – the temperature of the air, the paint and the surface must be at least 8 °C, otherwise the film will not be formed. Air humidity must be below 80% in order to obtain a well-cured coating film. Coatings can be applied with a brush made of synthetic fibres or with a microfibre roller.
Thanks to their quick drying, when protecting beehives with TESSAROL acrylic paints, for example, you can put the bees in the beehives as early as one day after the last coating is dry.
Exterior walls of beehives can also be protected with TESSAROL paints (primer, enamel), which are “classic” solvent-based paints. Due to a longer drying time, each coat should follow after one day, and the bees can be put in the beehive after one week, when the coatings are completely dry.
Apply 1 coat of TESSAROL primer for wood onto a suitably prepared surface, sand it, and then apply 2 more coats of TESSAROL enamel in the desired shade.
Important: While the use of biocide-containing impregnation is highly discouraged for beehives and beehive panels, it is safe to use biocide agents on other wooden parts of the bee house. Why? Biocides are only found in impregnation agents that are absorbed deep into the wood, and are always coated with one of the surface coatings (primer for wood and enamel). This enables the biocides to act where they are needed (inside the wood) and prevent the formation of wood pests. At the same time, the bees and other living beings avoid coming into contact with them.
When protecting the bee house, it is of course possible to choose the safest option by not using any impregnation agents at all. However, the wood may be infested with fungi.