Why paint beehives white

In general, look for water-based latex paints rated for exterior use with low levels of VOCs , or volatile organic compounds. VOCs are chemicals that evaporate out of the paint as it dries and cures, a process called off-gassing. Levels of VOCs are measured in grams per liter and are typically marked on the label of the paint can or bucket. To prevent these chemicals from affecting your bees and their pheromones, look for paints with VOCs under Those labeled 50 or lower are probably even safer.

Some bee keepers prefer to use clear coatings or stains to protect their hives without hiding the natural beauty of the wood grain. Again, the guiding rule is to use water-based coatings with low VOCs. Even with a low-VOC paint, you should leave plenty of time for the off-gassing process to take place before introducing a colony to your hive.

This process cannot be rushed, and your bees will thank you for planning ahead and leaving enough time to make their home as welcoming as possible. The rule of thumb for painting hives is to cover any surfaces that are exposed to sun and rain, and leave surfaces bare where bees walk and live.

This means the interiors of boxes, entry ways and all interior components such as frames should not be painted. Order our Assembled and Painted Starter Kit! Have questions? When returning to their hive, bees use both color and pattern as aids to get themselves back to the correct colony in a bee yard. This helps ensure their foraging investment benefits their own colony, and it helps to prevent drift.

Drift is the movement of bees among colonies. Guard bees are on duty at the entrances to inspect incomers and challenge any from other colonies. Foragers laden with resources can often beg their way into strange colonies, and lordly drones can come and go as they please. Drifting is implicated in the horizontal hive-to-hive spread of diseases in an apiary and the dispersion of varroa mites with the viral diseases they can bring along.

One thing that beekeepers can do to help prevent drift is to provide visual cues so returning bees can easily locate their own colony.

Different hive colors, or blocks of color, help bees hone in on the right hive. Patterns painted near the entrances also provide cues. But a solid square and an overall pattern of thin diagonal lines, would look profoundly different to a bee. These leftovers are typically available at an attractive price. Sometimes, when hives are stacked closely together or when they are arranged in long rows, the bees can become confused about which one is home. When the hives all look the same and the colony pheromones are intermingled, the bees opt for the ones on the end of the rows.

This migration to the outermost hives is called drift. To reduce drift, some beekeepers decorate the front of their hives with distinctive shapes and colors. Does this help the bees? I have no idea, but the beekeepers seem to enjoy it. Paint is full of vile things, including fungicides, so always remember to keep the paint on the outside of the hive and let it dry completely before you install the bees.

Painted woodenware lasts a whole lot longer than unpainted, so it is well worth coating anything that will be exposed to the weather. Also see More on Painting Bee Hives. I have a old hive, and decided to paint it before winter. This will assist you in telling the different sizes apart quickly and efficiently. Although, larger beekeeping operations will use different paint colors at the front of their hives to help reduce drift. It is believed this makes it easier for bees to locate their hive when all the hives look the same and pheromones are intermingled.

Painting your hives is one of the most inexpensive costs for beekeeping. One quart of paint will cover approximately 15 medium bee boxes with 2 coats of paint. This is generally not an option for the beekeeping hobbyist. This is more popular with larger beekeeping operations that are tired of painting boxes and can afford the upfront costs. It is a fairly simple process that requires a mixture of Paraffin wax to Microcrystalline wax.

The wax is heated between Fahrenheit and the boxes are submerged for mins depending on preference. The moisture within the box boils out as foam and the wax gets sucked into the wood. Pro Tip: You can paint your woodenware immediately after removing from the wax dip. It is recommended to dip your boxes after assembly.

Otherwise the wax prevents the glue from adhering to the wood. What is the Best Wood for Beehives? The best wood for beehives is a good select grade premium pine.

Your pine bee boxes will last decades if properly treated and looked after. Can Honeybees See Color? Bees can see yellow, orange, blue-green, blue, violet and purple.