ApiDana® Paint 1 kg for wooden and polystyrene beehives

01 · BREATHABILITY

Why a hive is not painted like a fence

A colony ripens nectar and respires, so water vapour leaves the hive continuously. If the timber is sealed under a conventional plastic paint, that vapour cannot cross the wall: it condenses beneath the film and eventually lifts it off in flakes. This paint is microporous, holding rainwater out while letting vapour escape, so the timber dries instead of staying waterlogged. It also carries an anti-mould agent that holds growth back on the faces that never see the sun.

02 · APPLICATION

Brush or short-pile roller, never a gloss roller

This is a thick, thixotropic paint. A foam gloss roller whips air into it and leaves the surface covered in bubbles; a brush, a wide flat brush, a short-pile roller or a spray unit will not. If it feels stiff for your tool, thin it with water only.

And the figure most often confused: it is touch-dry in an hour, but recoating takes 6 hours at 20 °C. Going over it sooner drags the first coat. Two coats on bare timber; one is enough for the annual touch-up.

03 · SURFACES

It works on polystyrene because it carries no solvent

A solvent-based enamel attacks polystyrene and eats into it, which is why a waterborne paint is the only sensible choice on poly hives. There is no solvent here: maximum VOC content is 2.4 g/l, against the 130 g/l the regulations allow for this category. Galvanised metal roofs must be abraded first to key the surface, because nothing grips smooth galvanising.

One case apart, and the one most often asked about: timber already treated with linseed oil. You can paint over it, but only once the oil has polymerised: while it is still greasy it repels the water in the emulsion and the paint will not key. With raw linseed oil that is weeks, not days, and sanding matt gives the coat something to grip. What you must never do is mix the paint with oil in the tin.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The tin holds 1 kg net, about 0.75 litres at its density of 1.3: at 12 m² per litre per coat, it covers around 9 m² per coat. The seven colours are intermixable, and painting hive fronts in different colours helps foragers recognise their own entrance and cuts drifting. It smells while it dries — a plant base with casein — and the smell goes within a few days outdoors.