if my hive has a large roof over the top cover so the rain never gets it does it need to be painted that's for a hot humid climate any ideas please
Hello Tina,
I think that is a good idea up here. We put the hives under a corrugated iron roof so the bees get the early morning sun but don't have to suffer our extreme heat and wet. Some people put a sheet of iron directly on the hive. Regarding painting, that depends what material you are using and whether you want a bush job or a palace. It would help if you can send a picture.
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Lone
what a beaut photo and a brillant idea love the honey bear it will be a new hive body that's arriving soon at the moment the old hive has a large sheet of laminated wood over it very heavy and wind and waterproof but if i get any more hives the way you have done yours is the way i would go in the wet the bees could still get out to a feeder
haha that wasn't meant to be a honeybear, it was a magpie scarecrow which didn't work. A couple of rogue maggies were picking off bees. By the way, note the height of stands you'll need to stop the canetoads, and the oil cans to stop the ants. Toads will still lurk round for the bees crawling on the ground. When you feed, that's generally inside the hive anyway, on top of the frames or with an upturned bottle through a hole in the lid.
Lone
White is significantly cooler than even silver roof paint (years ago a friend did a test painting roofing sheets and leaving them out over a thermometer). I assume that's why aust hives are generally painted white and European ones many colours. Gloss would be a better reflector than mat. However, provided the hive is in shade a darker colour wouldn't seem to matter, may even emit heat faster for cooling down in the afternoon, provided it is shaded.
I have mine white, but in the home garden, decorated with colours but predominately white.
There is a guy in the US who has made a solar powered extractor fan roof which he sells. Looks like a hive roof with solar panel and computer cooling fan! Might be good in NQ?
we don't have meat ants here just big tree ants, so far they haven't bothered the bees i have the hive up on cement blocks on carpet for SHB larvae we hope the toads will gobble the larvae there's a big crowd (of toads) waiting under the entrance every night
solar powered fans sounds a bit fancy for us
it would keep them from getting weathered and lookg ugly
I went to an open day at one of the big commercial operations on the weekend. They hot wax dip their boxes at 170 degrees for 7 mins then use concrete paving paint (oil based). They reckon they get years longer out of their boxes. They were dipping and painting boxes if you brought your own for $4 each, so I got 4 done to see how they last compared to just water based house paint. I don,t know if there is anyone who will wax dip for a reasonable cost at other times.
Wax dipping is awesome! all of mine are wax dipped from my supplier and i love it! 10 years with no maintenance - i'm looking at setting up my own dipping tank at the moment as i'm hoping to do some rapid increases soon and need to save some $$ where i can
Quote from: Grieth on May 03, 2011, 08:44:09 AM
I went to an open day at one of the big commercial operations on the weekend.
Was that up in Central Vic Grieth?
At a place near Bendigo. Very nice people to open their sheds for the day.