I’ve decided that I’m going to use only boxes that aren’t in quite good enough repair for permanent hives as bait hives now. Ones that aren’t perfect, but can be repaired to be reasonably close. Or in some cases, home-made ones I’ve inherited that aren’t quite the right dimensions. Some aren’t quite tall enough whilst others have thinner walls than started.
But how to tell them apart so I don’t confuse them with “proper” boxes? Well, I’ve bought five litres of Cuprinol “Garden Shades” in “Wild Thyme” (because it reminds me of my youth) partly because it has a good reputation amongst beekeepers who have tried it, and partly because it was on sale 😀 It’s a lighter blue/green than the paint I use for my poly boxes so it’s easy to tell them apart once painted and hopefully I shouldn’t get them confused.