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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
William Truesdell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 15 Oct 2002 10:20:03 -0400
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Todd wrote:

>I live in central Vermont, where the weather varies widely (-35f to around
>95f).   Summers can be cool, so I paint my hives a variety of colors, mostly
>mid-tones, which are considerably darker than white.  The temperature
>difference between hives painted these colors vs. white is striking on a
>sunny, cool day, but the midtones are not so dark as to create a problem on
>the occasional hot days.
>
I paint mine dark blue since that is the shade left over from the many
different shades our garage doors were painted ( to go with the house
colors which seems to vary with the season. Wife keeps me busy and Sears
prospers). In Maine in my area we seldom have more than a few days of
over 90F and it is usually low 80s or 70s. There do not seem to be any
ill effects either in summer or winter. I still have some bodies painted
white so there is a basis for comparison. Been painting them dark for
many years. There have been studies of dark painted hives in relation to
varroa control but not much came of it. I painted them because that was
the best way to get rid of all that garage door paint.

One feature that is nice is that the hives are not visible from the
road, compared to white hives which stand out.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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