# Color of boxes



## Drake (Sep 21, 2008)

Does it matter what color the hive bodies/boxes are? Wife wants to take ownership of a new hive and paint it a darkish purple.... rest of my hives are white!

drake


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

I have purple, yellow, grey, green, brown, white, wood, and everything else in between. The hives colored yellow and purple look pretty in the summer


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## Drake (Sep 21, 2008)

yea i seen some of your hives,,,, PINK!

I just wanted to make sure the dark colors isn't going to offend them 

drake


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

the only colors i have painted are yellow and purple. The rest were bought...I don't think pink is in there somewhere..but maybe lol


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

The practical consideration is that white hives reflect light (absorb less heat) and dark hives absorb more heat. If that's not a concern, let your artistic proclivities run free.

Wayne


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

I have often wanted to use the word proclivities in a sentance....nicly done Sir!


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## cow pollinater (Dec 5, 2007)

Yes, color absolutely does matter... Going down to the hardware store and buying white paint is expensive. Going down to the hardware store and getting "shell white that wasn't the shell white that I thought it was" is cheap. Get the stuff that people return for being the wrong color.
That being said, all my boxes to date are white... I have ten gallons of "not as clean of white as I thought it was" sitting in my shop so I won't have to buy paint for awhile.:thumbsup:


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Go for it! I paint them to match the house. My wife would paint them to match her socks. Whatever works....


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Bees don't care much for black. I guess a better question is where the hives are located ?

Heavily shaded areas, deserve darker shades to absorb heat in winter. Summer time is the same but I'd go with neutral colors. Bees adore whites, light shades of yellows and purples. How hard do you wish them to work in the summer to cool the place ? Protected from chilling winds ? White is the easiest, cheapest color to go with according to earlier posts & unused returned paints.


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## Drake (Sep 21, 2008)

I live in South East part of TX, think we have much of a winter? lol Most of the time, its heat that we combat with ... but easily fixed with SBB and adding a top vent (worse case scenerio)


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

We don't have much of a winter here in FL either, I prefer to keep them light colored, but I know a few other commercial guys with dark colored boxes and some don't paint them at all. Your right about the SBB and top vent...they help


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

All of us may reconsider our typical winters. Accuweathers winter 2010 prediction chart. The chart is on another site through this post: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234810

Might be interesting to save & determine the colors of the hives too.


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## CovertBeekInColleyville (Jun 12, 2009)

Mine are painted camouflage.


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## BigDru (Aug 4, 2009)

Found a great deal on a green color that was returned for being the wrong shade. Since green is my fav color and was a great deal, all my hives are green. A gallon goes a long ways.


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

WHAT"S wrong with pink big boy?????

We have a beek neighbor that was taught white or nothing!!!!
And yes we do have some gaudy looking " PINK " boxes.
$5.00 a gallon any color sure beats $20.00 a gallon white.
This spring I met a load of deeps coming down from the north & I bet there was at least 10 major different colors on this drop deck.
I was so excited my wife had to throw cold water on me 2 hours later!


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## Duboisi (Oct 7, 2009)

I have the understanding that dark colors heat up and cools down faster. Meaning that the difference in day and night temperature will be higher.

Light colors will not absorb as much heat during daytime, but will loose less heat during night.

I am not sure how large this effect is at night, but if I lived in a hot climate - I would probably experiment with the colors. Like Zebra-stripes are supposed to have a cooling effect by creating a cooling air-stream where the black stripes creates a rising current that draws in air to cool the white areas.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

*Pink did some say Pink*


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

I have different colors, including peach. Opps paint is what I use myself. But lately I haven't been painting them at all. Have been putting on several coats of neutral Cabot's. Boxes really look nice with the Cabot's.

I painted 1 nuc and several brood boxes bright red. Bees seemed okay with the nuc but both brood boxes had packages this year and they both died off.


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

WOW!!!!!
Your PINK is as loud as mine!!!!


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## lupester (Mar 12, 2008)

My 6 year old daughter swears that the bees are happier in the yellow and pink striped hives....which happen to match her room!


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## Mathispollenators (Jun 9, 2008)

It doesn't matter what color you paint them. And you don't really have to paint them for that matter. However consider this it is easier for your bees to find the right hive if it's a diffrent color than the rest in the beeyard. Just the same as you trying to tell a friend what house you live in on the block. It's much easier for them to find the red house on the right than if we all had the same colored house.


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## hoodswoods (May 15, 2009)

We went green years ago, before the current trend - green house, vehicles, trim, shutters - the wife says everything looks better painted green, and this years hive boxes - who can argue (except another wife)?

It's interesting the threads that folks respond to. I have a question out there on pre-winter hive maintenance with no responses - and here I am addressing what color to paint a hive - kiss


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## chevydmax04 (May 11, 2009)

my boxes started out as white. But that gets a little boring, I do this for fun so boring boxes was not my thing. So I started painting them bright yellow, bright green and a pastel blue. I stay away from dark colors as I do not want the increased heat load in summer. Keep it fun express yourself in color!


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

CovertBeekInColleyville said:


> Mine are painted camouflage.


How do you see them?


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## Duboisi (Oct 7, 2009)

Mathispollenators said:


> It doesn't matter what color you paint them. And you don't really have to paint them for that matter. However consider this it is easier for your bees to find the right hive if it's a diffrent color than the rest in the beeyard. Just the same as you trying to tell a friend what house you live in on the block. It's much easier for them to find the red house on the right than if we all had the same colored house.


Exept that bees dont see the colour red.


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## Drake (Sep 21, 2008)

Shesshhhh, I wasn't going to tell him that! In any case I hope to have a few pictures of the hive that my wife painted today by this evening... It turned out fairly well....cheap paint from the local hardware store for the win!

drake


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## Duboisi (Oct 7, 2009)

Duboisi said:


> I have the understanding that dark colors heat up and cools down faster. Meaning that the difference in day and night temperature will be higher.
> 
> Light colors will not absorb as much heat during daytime, but will loose less heat during night.


Did some checking on this. Turns out that the visible color has very little effect on heat loss during night, as that is done in the infrared spectrum. 

The visible color only affects how much heat that is trapped or bounced back from the sun (or other lightsources).

This in turn means that a dark color that heats up by the visible light during daytime does not loose the advantage during night.


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## Mathispollenators (Jun 9, 2008)

Ok don't paint a hive red they'll leave and think the house dissappered when they try to come back.


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## hoodswoods (May 15, 2009)

One bee can tell the others where one flower is 3 miles from the hive - I seriously doubt that they would have trouble finding home regardless of the color.


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## devdog108 (May 7, 2009)

honeyman46408 said:


> *Pink did some say Pink*
> 
> Let me assure you that if my wife said paint them pink.....I would. I would even paint my house, and my motorcycle pink. I already have a MAry Kay Pink Caddy in the drive way and am a beek because i was able to retire and be a stay at home dad at the age of 33....Pink....man, I lOVE pink......


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## trapperbob (May 27, 2007)

Mine are what ever color I find in the mistint section at wal-mart. Just make sure it's exterior.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

> Let me assure you that if my wife said paint them pink.....I would. I would even paint my house, and my motorcycle pink.


:gh:That BEE sweet


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## fat/beeman (Aug 23, 2002)

I guess my bees are color blind some of my best or strongest hives are red. funny a professor from a university said bees don't see red too. think I need to look into it more.
Don


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

I like dark colors and deep colors. 
But I love yellow too. 
This year my new boxes are all purple or teal.


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## nic (Sep 28, 2009)

i think a good idea is too paint the exterior with wheather shield paint with nothing less than a 10 year gaurentee, its not all that expensive if you buy say 5 litre drums, give the outside only 2 coats and then paint over your exterior with a double coat of chrome (cheap) spray paint, most heat resistant, or just a single coat of clear!! keeps the costs down and chrome bee hives just look better than the rest


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## Mathispollenators (Jun 9, 2008)

My point with the paint colors is Erin's yard. I could be down the road and find the hive need if told which one. They are placed random and all different colored boxes. I get paint from a painter friends left overs so it's always different colors.


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

Yes, I do like that I can say "the one with the XX color box on top" when describing a colony. 

Notice in the background the colonies all have their bricks in the laying down across the hive position "5 by 5" as my husband would say. (All ok)

If I were sending someone to my beeyard to look at something I was worried about the brick would be straight up on end in the "queenless" position. 
I learned that from Fat_Beeman. 

Good advice. This Forum (and directly from its members) is a great place to learn)

Best, 
-E.


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## Truchaos (Jun 30, 2008)

I keep my hives in a wooded area so I paint them a chocolate brown color. 

I do this because during the summer months, they blend in and aren't easily visible to those with bad intentions. Then during the winter months, when the leaves are off the trees, the sun helps keep the hives warmer.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I think it is far better to keep your wife happy than argue over what color is "right."

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Grant said:


> I think it is far better to keep your wife happy than argue over what color is "right."
> 
> Grant
> Jackson, MO


When you argue with your wife you have 2 choices, "you can bee right or bee happy" :doh:


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## Maine_Beekeeper (Mar 19, 2006)

Happy wife = happy life


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