Tim Eisele wrote:
>This year, I painted most of my supers dark green instead of white, so
>that the sun would warm them quickly in the morning. This seems to have
>done the trick...
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 own a small sign shop, and frequently use mis-mixed paint from our local
paint store to paint the backs of signs. It's cheap, since it's not in
demand, and can often be had in 5 gal containers. Generally, when you mix a
bunch of colors together, you wind up with a gray with tinges of red, or
sometimes blue. The colors are usually pleasant to the eye.
This mis-mixed paint is an excellent way to paint hives. If you have an
option, use 100% acrylic latex paint, and prime first with 100% acrylic
latex. The finish will last much longer if you lightly sand the hive bodies
first with 60 grit paper - the primer and top coat grab much better. An
alternative to primer & paint is latex or oil stains. Although faster,
these finishes do not hold up as well, since they are basically thinned,
self priming versions of paints, and have lower solids contents - it's the
solids and resins that create the protective barrier.
100% acrylic latex paints have some major advantages over older latexes
(which often contain vinyl compounds) and oil base. The acrylic resins are
all but immune to U.V., which is the killer of lesser paints. They also
stay flexible and permeable, which helps the finish and the wood last
longer.
Some of the very best paints (in my experience) are California Paints,
Benjamin Moore, and Cabot. There are many others, but I have found these to
be generally excellent.
This is probably more than anyone wanted to know about paints :)
Todd.
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