Black paint

[StevenG]

I paint mine a shade of green that blends in the with spring and summer foliage around here... makes them harder to see by thieves in the woods or edge of fields where I put them.

[julysun]

I paint my traps with Camo colors and my hives some bright, light colors. Just fun colors but very light, most boxes are white. Heat gain is the big problem here on the coast.

[seyc]

Still not clear why it's even necessary to consider painting hives black in such a mild climate.

If you consider 10 months of winter mild, sure.

This past year, it was July before it would hit 50 degrees before noon, and put tomatoes out in the garden. Well, they were already out there, but had not done anything yet. Summer here is from about mid-July to mid-September.

When I moved back to this side of Washington from North Idaho, I had forgotten how fricken cold the winters are over here! I much prefer 20 degrees and sunny over 40 degrees and the rain coming in sideways!

[waynesgarden]

Like I said earlier, you and I probably have different ideas about what cold is. When I talk about cold being 20 to 40°, that's minus zero.

Last winter was mild here in Maine and I don't think it dropped below zero at all. My hives (all white) never got wrapped and the only weather-related losses were a couple of un-protected hives on an exposed, windswept hill.

Wayne

[WWW]

We had a nice sunny day today and I got to thinking about this thread and wondered about the heat gain on my light grey hives, so I hung a thermometer on the vent hole of the condensation box of one of the hives. It was 1:00 in the afternoon full sun and 80 deg, the temperature went off the dial but I guessed it to be around 150 degrees, that's a lot of heat. I think I will send the hives through this winter without felt wrap and see what happens. (sorry for the tilted camera).

[Adam Foster Collins]

Waynesgarden,

To me, it isn't as much about winter as it is about the shoulder seasons. There is a lot of 50's and 60's in the Spring and Fall, as well as cooler days throughout the season. To me, the dark box is intended to raise the core temperature by several degrees. (admittedly, I don't have real numbers - I just guess). Over the course of the year, I believe those dark boxes will add up to a lot of extra hours of activity. During the coldest months, it might allow them to reach food. During the spring, it might allow them to raise a little more brood. In the summer, their days are a bit longer, and in the fall, they get just a few more cells packed with winter stores.

Maybe it's simplistic, but I believe it well enough to choose the paint color on it.

I got the idea from Erin Forbes of Overland Apiaries. She's in Portland/Falmouth Maine. She paints hers black. I started black but found they looked a little too unnatural somehow, so settled on dark brown.

Adam

[steer53]

Ran out of white this week, got lots of old colors in basement to bust out. Don't have to spend a dime!

[waynesgarden]

I haven't been to Erin's place for a couple years now but I don't remember black hives when I picked up nucs or packages or queens, just greens and grays and purples and yellows and all shades of blues.

WWW: I don't wrap for heat gain. I wrap for protection from the wind.

Wayne

[julysun]

SEYC, We like to say that we have two seasons here, Summer and Christmas.

[WWW]

Wayne,
Yeah, I do understand about wrapping for wind protection if it is needed, my hives are in a protected place where the wind is broken up however if I see that I will be getting a sustained cold spell with winds I may just go ahead and wrap, I will take this little experiment on a day by day basis and see how it goes. The survival of my hives will for sure take priority with this experiment.