Painted hives from Macedonia

DennisB · July 30, 2008, 09:53:34 AM

I have always been fascinated by the wonderful artwork of the Eastern European beekeepers when it comes to painting their hives. I would imagine that the bees enjoy the beauty as well. Here is a link to some pictures of painted hives in Macedonia, which I believe was a part of Yugoslavia for many years but is now a new country.

Hope you enjoy them:

http://www.pcelinjak.com/component/option,com_easygallery/act,categories/cid,172/Itemid,133/

Dennis

indypartridge · July 30, 2008, 10:22:32 AM

Cool Pictures! Thanks!

My wife does doll-house minatures and we've talked about painting a hive to look like a dollhouse. It's on the "to do" list.

randydrivesabus · July 30, 2008, 10:25:36 AM

those are beautiful.

JP · July 30, 2008, 10:32:52 AM

Nice!

...JP

_Brenda_ · July 30, 2008, 10:35:04 AM

Those are very well done. I see a problem in switching supers, on the triptic type art. :-D Very nice, though, and I like the house hives too. I think they'd look best in my yard/garden.

poka-bee · July 30, 2008, 11:47:50 AM

Oh my, those are beautiful! Guess we all have something to do this winter! It would take a lot of different exterior paint though, or is there something to put over to keep them looking good, specially here in the PNW? I know some of you are painters & craftsmen so would know.. Jody

DennisB · July 30, 2008, 11:50:04 AM

Jody,

My grand-daughter and I painted some of our hives this year and yes the paint does flake a bit. We used acrylic craft paints for the designs. This winter when we do some more I will spray them with an acrylic sealer, it should help some.

Dennis

johnnybigfish · July 30, 2008, 04:10:37 PM

What a great idea!!
My wife will be having a project soon!
She's a portrait artist!
I'll bet i can get her to paint one of my boxes!
I'll post a picture when she finishes!

ok,..Gott go bookmark that link!

Thanks for the link Dennis!

your friend,
john

Shawn · July 30, 2008, 04:52:50 PM

Those are nice. So do people actually have them as working hives?

DennisB · July 30, 2008, 05:28:37 PM

Shawn,

Over in Europe they had a cottage industry with artists that traveled around and painted hive fronts for the beekeepers. Slovenia, which is north of Italy was famous for this. Most of the beekeepers during that time (up until the first part of the 20th century) kept their bee hives in a building with the fronts facing out. Neat idea. Sometime back I saw a sight from Slovenia that mentioned a museum exhibit of painted bee hive fronts.

Dennis

charlescfry · August 01, 2008, 03:32:06 PM

this is really cool... thanks for the link.

i let my kids go crazy with craft paint on some new supers... the kids loved being involved in the bees this way, we spent a great afternoon horsing around and creating designs, and for years the hives have carried their "marks." now the paint is flaking and it really pains me to think about painting them over! the kids are teens now and not so interested (or sentimental) about the supers, but we still talk about it from time to time.

the folk art is nice - but grab a kid or other interested person and let them paint away! it is fun and a lot more interesting than the standard left-over paint on hives!

DennisB · August 04, 2008, 03:24:59 PM

I can't help but think that the bees take pride in their painted houses as well!

Dennis

steveb · August 04, 2008, 04:28:45 PM

Nice to see some more pictures of painted hives. For sometime I have been collecting ideas of Slovakian Folk art painted hives and have been facinated by the work.
As a side business I make custom hives for local beekeepers here in Utah and have considered a few folk art hives to add to the mix. It just so happens that my wife has been a folk artist for about 30 years and use to teach it. With a little encouagement she has worked up a couple of demonstation panels to test the idea. We are still looking at the best paint to use that would give durability but handle well for the artist. There are several possibilities and we wanted to test them with the elements before attempting to market them. In a couple of years I can retire from my day job and have more time to work on this project. At the present time all my "free" time is taken up in making hives for others.
Steve, Utah

asprince · August 04, 2008, 10:28:03 PM

Did you look at the other sections of that site? There are some great photos and videos. Check them out. I especially liked the photo of the bee with the mites on it's back. Such detail.

Steve

dpence · August 05, 2008, 02:05:48 PM

Wouldn't that start some rubber neckin' if I had some like that in my bee yard....LOL. They are really awsome.

David

DennisB · August 07, 2008, 09:08:15 AM

Who's doing the rubber-necking? I would imagine that you could create a bee-jam if they start rubber-necking on their way in and out of the hive!

Asprince, you are definitely right about the other photos in that web site. I would enjoy going over there sometime to visit the area, it sure looks beautiful.

Dennis

Norton · August 07, 2008, 09:47:08 AM

Hello,
There is no such country as Macedonia - it is incorrect to use this name for Skopje or FYROM. Macedonia should only be used for the Greek area.
Best regards
Norton.

pcelar · August 07, 2008, 10:32:18 AM

Quote from: Norton on August 07, 2008, 09:47:08 AM
Hello,
There is no such country as Macedonia - it is incorrect to use this name for Skopje or FYROM. Macedonia should only be used for the Greek area.
Best regards
Norton.

LOL

Norton · August 07, 2008, 02:46:59 PM

I am glad that you found it amusing! You might like to see what Wikipedia has to say.
I rest my case!
Best regards
Norton.

hankdog1 · August 08, 2008, 07:52:18 PM

Wow that's interesting wish i was talented enough to do that. But with my artistic ability being a smiley face and a stick man i don't think it would have the same effect lol.