1st time New Hive...

Steve the only stupid question is the one never asked....
Painting the boxes is to help with the elements...if you are going to paint make sure you use a LATEX paint so the inside moisture can be drawn out of the box. I would paint the top edges and bottom edges. I would not paint the inside of the cover. And I do not paint the inner cover at all. Remember the goal is to keep the hive as dry as possible, both during the flow and during the cluster time. The more ventilation during the flow the better.
There are some real good plans for ventilated inner covers. I think it helps keep more bees inside doing their work as opposed to outside "bearding"
Curtis

[ July 03, 2006, 09:13 AM: Message edited by: Curtis ]

If you haven't bought your paint yet, save yourself a couple of bucks by asking the paint store whether they have any mis-mixed paints in the back room. Many times, they will have gallons of mis-mixed stuff that you can save a lot of money on. You won't get the color you want if you want a particular color, but it does save a ton.

I went to the local Sherwin Williams, got exterior latex for 4.00 a gal, color wasn't too bad light tan, maybe. Went back a couple days later, they charged me 8.00 for a gal of oil base mismatch.
Whats the argument on painting with oil or latex, I've seen both recommended?

Larry,
The Oil Base will not let the wood "breath"...as in letting the moisture out of the wood that has gotten in from the inside of the hive.
Curtis

Last weekend the wife stopped by our local "Big Lot" (which is one of these clearance places if you don't have em around your area).

I asked her to find me some cheap Latex Exterior paint for the interior of this Cargo trailer I was outfitting. And she comes home with three gallons of various colors for $1.50 a gallon.

All Flat finishes but.... she gets a gallon each of White, Barn Red and Cape Cod Grey. And a roller and tray kit for 99 cents. Cheap "one use" thing but still got the job done on the trailer and no clean up. Just threw it away!

Plus I got a gallon of this white now for Hive bodies. Not sure how good a paint it is but it seems good enough when I used it in the Trailer.

Check that out. Cannot even buy mix matches for that very often. Cept when they give it to ya.