Last spring we made a few hive bodies.   We stained two brood boxes a
little darker than natural pine.  By the end of the golden rod bloom in the
fall, all our hives were of equivalent strength, each one having two hive
bodies. All colonies were treated with meds the same also.

This past winter was rather tame but the hive that was natural(darker) had a
population almost 3 times that of the hives painted white in April.

Based on this, we decided to stain everything from this point on.  Besides
we feel that the natural hives look better.

steve