# Why are most hives white?



## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

Are they? I suppose traditionally you're right, but non-white beehives are quite common these days. Most of mine are not white. There's a guy here in Maine, an old Navy man, and all his hives are battleship gray. Go figure. One local migratory beekeeper has a few thousand hives and none of them are white and another has about 800 hives and it looks like none of his hives have seen any paint in years.

I think white hives just came into vogue a long time ago, back in the good old days when houses were white, cars were black, and barns were red. Every farm had a few buckets of whitewash in the shed and by golly, that's what you painted things with. A few rogues probably painted their hives barn red because that's what they had even if their neighbors did ride them about it. Tractors came later and they were green of course, unless they were Internationals and then they were red but tractor paint was expensive compared to good old whitewash.

Here in Maine, white is still the preferred farm house color. Barns are still red. Tractors are still green. Or red. And beehives are just about any color you can imagine.

I suppose down south white hives make some sense because they reflect sunlight and hence won't heat up quite so much in the summer time. Here in Maine, darker colors seem more appropriate.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

I have yet to find a feral bee hive in a white-washed tree.


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

But I have found feral bees in white houses.









But the white, as stated above, is probably better suited for the heat in the south.


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## busybguy (Apr 28, 2005)

My grand-daughter claims she always recognizes my hives whereever she goes because of all the different colors they are, blue, green , maroon, several other colors, even hot pink, whatever goes on sale because of mistinting. The advantage is - i'm cheap, and the bees can identify their hive easier in a grouping causing less drifting.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I do think it helps with the summer heat.

Most of my hives are white. The farms that they are rented too like it that way. They are part of an "apple tour" every year, and some are bed and breakfasts. They like the fact they look neat and are one color. Many of these farms also have seen this one color white by past beekeepers and think thats the way it should be. Some are past beekeepers themselves and just figured with all the problems, they have no time to deal with things besides farming.

Now my mating nuc yards are another story. Nucs of all different colors. Arranged in groups scattered in a tangled mess. It is important to have easily found nucs so the queen does not get confused.

Hives of different colors do help with drift. If you have them all one color, you should take this into account when placing them.

I have had many farmers tell me that my nicely painted white hives look good, and somehow equate my care of the hives with thinking that they are getting quality across the board. I think image, and marketing yourself in a good light still means something. I have heard some say "That last beekeeper had hives of all different colors and hives literally falling apart." I will continue to have hives painted white for those who rent my hives. I also put on a fresh shirt in the morning, clean jeans, and comb my hair. I think it all matters.

If I was going to keep two hives as a hobbiest in my back yard, I would not care on the same level. Cause the people seeing them would know me personally, and would not judge me by a few oddly painted hives. And if they did, they would not be coming back.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

My house is white, my barn is white, my garage is white, my hives are white. It's very New England!


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## power napper (Apr 2, 2005)

Mine are all Sherwin Williams latex white.
Am seriously thinking of painting the hives all gray with green mold color splotches for camo effect. Then the hives will look like an ash tree stump and may help absorb some winter sun rays in the winter. I like my hives to look neat and clean.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I buy mistint paint without regard to color. You can get some tremendous high quality house paint for $5 a gallon. I'll even paint a white hive body a different color just to be ornery. I have a rainbow apiary, much to the chargrin of my beekeeping buddies (those white purists).

Why white? Why are church doors red? Why is anything any color? I think someone started the white color and it looked good to the neighbor and a trend was born.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

Mine are every color of the rainbow, as I to am guilty of buying mistinted paint. It just makes sense to buy good paint, at a reduce price. The girls don't mind the colors.......much......ok...they drew the line with the hot florsent pink last year......but it was after all on sale.LOL


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## naturebee (Dec 25, 2004)

White I like because its the color that can alert me to problems from the greatest distance. A quick drive by and I can tell a bit easier which colonies are flying, nosema or dysentery problems are obvious on white, mud on the hive that might suggest predators visiting. And the color dosen't hide the evidence that they need repard or painted, prompting me to keep them in a bit better shape than I would otherwise.


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## dickm (May 19, 2002)

This should be a local choice. Darker colors to the north. A dark hive in Texas must be entirely unusual. 

I started out with green, yellow and blue. Later grey. On the right kind of day you can tell the different colors just by holding your hand near them. The difference in heat properties is educational.

If I were beginning in CT I'd go all grey, but I have upper entrances and open BBs.
It is a good idea to hide them. 


dickm


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

My preference for paint is whatever color is around or cheap. But if I'm BUYING it at full price, I always buy white. But then I sort of gave up on painting. I would like to make a tank for the parafin dip though...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslazy.htm#stoppainting

[ December 24, 2006, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: Michael Bush ]


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Everyone in my area knows I collect cans of leftover exterior latex paint (any color). Usually once every couple of weeks someone drops off a slightly used can. I typically pour whatever color into a five gallon bucket and whatever color comes out, is what is painted on. I have chartruse hives, and so many varients of green, grey and some blue. Oh, and they all know, I don't want paint that has been left out in unheated garages, etc., which has frozen...no good to me.


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## paintingpreacher (Jul 29, 2006)

I am a part time painter, so I do come up with lots of colors. I try to stay with the lighter colors because of the heat. I have white, light gray, green, tan, and a few more,, I like to color code my hives, so I drive by and see a green hive I know that hive was started in 2004 and so on. I also like glossy paint as it seems to hold up better.

"Merry Christmas"


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## Ardilla (Jul 17, 2006)

busybguy indicated his different color hives allow bees to locate their homes easier. 

In one of the German beeking videos on queen rearing, the nucs were all different colors. Is that for the bees or the beekeeper?

btw: my hives are stained with Rit dye (yellow, green, purple) then sealed with deck weatherproofing.


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## RonS (Dec 28, 2004)

Well, Ardilla, NM is know for their artists and you seem to have carried that into your beekeeping. Actually, I have considered letting my spouse lose with her paints on a new hive that I just ordered. After reading your post, I'll do just that and see what she comes up with.


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## Lively Bee's (Dec 9, 2004)

I started out with white hives due to the fact I had paint left over from when I painted my house. Then I started to buy miscolored paint from the local lowes. some for $5 some for $15 a gal. so I ended up with some pinks blues grays browns and whites. But I just hate to see all that nice wood covered with paint so I now linseed oil all of my box's


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

I don't have any white hives. I hot dip mine now and they come out a dark golden brown color. When I was painting them....They came out a really dark brown color. I like dark. They blend into the surroundings. 

White for me draws too much attention. I don't want to draw attention to them.


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## kc in wv (Feb 1, 2006)

I paint my brood box's and upper chamber gray, it helps to keep the hive warmer in the winter. I paint my medium supers for extraction white to help the bee's keep the honey cooler during the winter. All of my extraction supers are medium depth and my cut comb suppers are shallow. This system make sit easy for me to keep track of what is on each hive.

A beekeeper frind who is now deceased loved auction sales. As you know you can buy paint at an estate sale for almost nothing. He would sometimes get 10 to 15 gallon cans for a dollar. He would throw away that was bad, mix what was left and paint his hives with it.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

I make it a point to not to use white. I like to keep our yards camoflaged using a variety of earthy colors.

If I had to speculate I bet the color stuck because when langstroth hives became popular "whitewash" was the cheap and common item used for fences and other such "farm"items. Probably no one would have thought to spend good money on real paint for beehives.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

kc, you state "I paint my medium supers for extraction white to help the bee's keep the honey cooler during the winter."

Just how "southern" are you, in west virginia?


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## kc in wv (Feb 1, 2006)

BjornBee
REAL SOUTHERN







I77 south leaves WV about 7 road miles from my house. I figured that white doesn't absorbe the heat so the super would be cooler and more bee's can gather nectar

Do you ever make it to the WV beekeepers meetings?

[ December 27, 2006, 10:00 PM: Message edited by: kc in wv ]


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## Panhandle Bee man (Oct 22, 2003)

As a southern beekeeper, my boxes are painted white, almond, grey, blue, green, red, pumpkin pie, and corral. I haven't found that it doesn't makes a difference on color. Yes I like to stop at the big box home centers and will buy oops paint and the bees don't seem to mind. I do like the site of boiled boxes, followed by a semi tranparent stain, When I was a northern beekeeper I only used white, but that was out of tradition.


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## flathead (Nov 1, 2006)

Mine are white, two coats of Kilz and then a couple of coats of white exterior acrylic. 

I am new to beekeeping but chose white because my bees are in full sun and it gets hot here. Winters are mild.

Black hives would probably melt wax here so I will stay with the lighter colors. I did pick up 5 gallons of mis-mixed light gray the other day and plan to use it eventually.


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