Painting Bee Hives
Have wooden bee hives to paint?
Good news, bee hives don't have to be a boring one color, such as white or grey,and certainly don't paint all of your hives the same color.
Honey bees will literally "drift" from their home base as they return with pollen, often settling in the hives on the outside of their periphery. Or the hive closest to them landing with a heavy load.
Every hive should have a distinct personality. The easiest way is to give each hive a different geometric design so bees can tell which one is their home. The hives can be the same color as long as each one has a unique mark.
How to Paint Bee Hives
To paint bee hives, use a latex paint, it dries faster and is easier to clean off of you.
Don't paint the inside of the hive, only the outside and the hive rims. Also don't paint frames, inner covers and queen excluders. You can paint the edge of screened inner covers. I also recommend painting the inside of your telescoping covers so you can more easily spot small hive beetles.
Make sure you give them time to dry or they will stick.
Here's one simple hive that used two paint colors to give their hive a distinct look.
If you've visited David's apiary, you know "honey maple" hive. David has his hive colors on a spread sheet and names his colonies after the paint hive colors. His hive boxes also are painted in the same color family, going from the deep color in the bottom hive to the light color on top:
