Green Paint for the Beehives

Gotta paint the beehives.

The beehives are wood and out in the weather and not cheap so they need a coat of paint. But I certainly don’t want to expose the bees to more toxins than necessary. I hit the web in search of eco-friendly paint.

The major problem with paint is the VOC (volatile organic compounds).  VOC used in paint can include formaldehyde , cleaning chemicals, and pesticides.  I certainly do not want pesticides anywhere near the bees.  Eco-friendly exterior paint options are pretty limited though.   At the box stores it looks as if the best you’ll do is some low-VOC paints – which may be just what you need, especially for exterior paint jobs where ventilation is not going to be an issue, but I don’t want even low levels of pesticides near the bees.

Since I want as few nasty chemicals as possible my choices were down to just a few.  I went with DuraSoy One but AFM Safecoat looked like another decent option.  Sometimes you just have to flip a coin.  Frankly, in this case it came down to price.  My choice was a tad cheaper per gallon, I had purchased from the company before (a no-VOC masonry sealer for the bricks in the kitchen) and I didn’t have to pay sales tax.  I’m not sure the latter is a good justification for a purchase, but there you have it.

With any luck, by the time the weather warms up the paint will be here and I can undertake my first beekeeping task.