[wonderwooly]

Hi there

I am new to bees and have two half sized hives (nucs) which have survive the long winter and need putting into bigger hives, dadent to be clear there in France. I am doing this with a very enthusiastic and french friend of mine which is great as were we share the cost and work 50/50, but he has got hold of some hives nicely made,good price, but they have a silver paint on them I voiced this, and apparently its ok under french organic standard.
i was not sure about this, we are not likely to need be to be organically registered but all the same would like to do thing as naturally as possible. should I have concerns with the paint?   

[Bionic]

I can't answer your question directly but understand your concerns as not all paints are bee friendly. I suppose you don't actually know what make of paint it is?
OH always uses a Sadolin paint on his hives. Expensive but ok for bees.

[P6te]

Hi,

If the paint is thoroughly dry (ie. not recently been applied) I would be very surprised if you have any problem as a result of the composition of the paint.  However, the problem with painting hives is that most paint is not porous and the hive cannot 'breath' and is likely to suffer from damp. 

When the honey flow is on the bees remove large quantities of moisture from the hive as the nectar is turned into honey. If you have an alighting board at the entrance you will clearly see moisture on it first thing in the morning following the nights work!

I know you can now get plastic hives but in my opinion a good quality wooden hive takes some beating with the natural properties of wood (ie. porous) being beneficial to the health and wellbeing of the colony.

Pete