Got my beehive

[Southern Gardener]

and set it up last night - I just need bees. I want to attend the bee meeting next Tuesday before I order bees (hoping I'm not to late) to gain more knowledge and get it right. The more I learn, the more questions I have. Maybe I'm overthinking this - I'm sure the bees will know what to do. I'd like to stain the hive a warm color - any suggestions on what I can use?

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Oh! You're in for a real treat.

Please do yourself and your bees a big favor and learn all you can about the honey bee lifecycle, feeding requirements, temperature and ventilation requirements, how to avoid swarming, mite and moth protection, and the list goes on and on. Honey bees are one of the most fascinating bugs in the world. You'll be blown away.

It looks like you have a Brushy Mountain deluxe model hive. If I had a brand-spankin-new hive like that I think I would stain it a
medium oak and put two or three coats of clear polyurethane on it. They turn out beautiful. Out here in rural farm country we paint our hives any color that comes along. In fact our beek club has a 55 gal. barrel of lavender latex paint that was a painting contractor's mistake and there are lavender hive boxes popping up all over the county. You'll soon learn that hives get boxes switched from time to time and most hives are multi-color unless all are painted the same.

If you go to the beekeepers meetings you might be able to receive a good colony of bees from someone who collects swarms in your area. It's usually free and the bees are used to your climate and "muts" are the best bees to have. You might have to lend a helping hand to the swarm catcher but that is wonderful experience. That's how I get every one of my colonies.

Good luck and please keep us up to date on your new friends. Your gardens will love you.

 

[kevs-chickadees]

I wish! I'd like to get into the bee thing and my trees could sure use it, but I can't find any local classes or anything. I know they exist here just can't hook up with one. Well good luck and have fun!

 

[momofdrew]

I agree with smiles stain and then poly

good luck on your new venture let us know how it goes...

 

[nachoqtpie]

All the hives I've seen here are white. I've never seen a different color. I asked once why they were white and I was told that painting it white helped keep the hives cooler.

I'm not a beekeeper, so I can't tell you if that's true or not. :/

 

[Southern Gardener]

Well, I read - somewhere in all my research - that people living in the south shouldn't paint them a dark color because it will cook the hive, but they did say you can certainly stain it

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Yeah I think light colors are best. Although I know a guy who has 6 or 8 hives and all of them are stained a dark walnut and his colonies seem to do fine. I've been to his apiary and his hives get afternoon shade during the summer months. I'm sure that helps. He likes the dark natural colors in his apiary so the hives do not create any interest to the folks passing by. Evidently he had some vandalism in the past.

Most of the hives around here are white. In the winter I have started putting 1" Styrofoam panels all around my hives and I wrap black plastic over that. I use screened bottom boards and I leave the bottom open all winter for ventilation. It's difficult to determine what works best. Each beek has different successes and failures with these things.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Here's a few pics of a cut-out that I did a few weeks ago. This is an old abandoned house that a young couple purchased and want to fix up. As you can see the bees had comb in 4 stud spaces. The two stud spaces on the right had 5 ft. long combs. I vacuumed 3 lb. of bees, 26 lb. of honey, and 12 lb. of bee's wax. I made sure I got the queen and I now have this colony in one of my hives. They have been in their new home for a few weeks and they seem to be doing fine. This past Wednesday I opened the hive to paint the queen and check for new eggs, pollen, nectar, and new comb. They are doing great so far. I didn't see any sign of small hive beetles or Varoa mites but I do have a problem with ants.

 

[sparkles2307]

Here's a few pics of a cut-out that I did a few weeks ago. This is an old abandoned house that a young couple purchased and want to fix up. As you can see the bees had comb in 4 stud spaces. The two stud spaces on the right had 5 ft. long combs. I vacuumed 3 lb. of bees, 26 lb. of honey, and 12 lb. of bee's wax. I made sure I got the queen and I now have this colony in one of my hives. They have been in their new home for a few weeks and they seem to be doing fine. This past Wednesday I opened the hive to paint the queen and check for new eggs, pollen, nectar, and new comb. They are doing great so far. I didn't see any sign of small hive beetles or Varoa mites but I do have a problem with ants.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Charlos/2-GEDC0736.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Charlos/3-GEDC0737.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Charlos/5-GEDC0740.jpg

So cool!

My kids are friends with a beekeeper's kids, so we're going to have a tour and help collect honey one of these days.

 

[Southern Gardener]

Wowzer! that is so cool! I have a real problem with ants here - how do you keep them out of your hives?