Beehive art is becoming more and more popular in the bee yard. Painting hive bodies a boring white was the norm when I started beekeeping 20 years ago. Fast forward to the present and everyone is trying to outdo themselves with wild and beautiful designs decorating the bee yard. Art and beekeeping? Great combination of two of my favorite past times and I can give you some pointers on how to accomplish a beautiful beehive even if you don’t believe in your artistic abilities. Stencils, spray paint, and stickers can all be used to come up with a design that people will think you spent hours on!

Inspired by the designs seen at Beekeeping Like A Girl and IzzabellaBeez on Etsy, I am now thinking about how I can jazz up my apiary. In the past, I have used stencils as a quick pick-me-up for my hives. Once you paint a base coat, it is so easy to apply stencils and you are done! But I would like to do a full makeover of free-hand painting of my hives.

If you have several hives that look alike placed together in a row, individualize your beehives to make it easier for your bees to find their proper hive and eliminate drifting. Drifting bees can get confused if all the hives look alike and need a special homing designation to get to their particular hive.

Splash some paint on your hives for quick abstract look, from Beekeeping Like a Girl  

For functionality, start with a neutral base coat and add at least 2 coats to get good coverage to protect the beehive from the elements to last for years. I troll the paint sections of the big box stores for quarts or gallons that were returned and you can pick up for a fraction of the cost.

Everyone paints their beehives to protect them from the elements, but why not make it beautiful and eye-catching?  The bees don’t care, and this is your chance to express yourself. Lasting longer in the heat, sun, and, and bad weather that we can get in the Mid-Atlantic region, paint makes your woodenware last a whole lot longer.

Paint the outside surfaces of the beehive and leave the insides where the bee live free of paint. Use a gloss paint on top of your primer or base coat as it seems to slough off dirt better than a satin or eggshell paint. The color of the primer is not important. But primer is important to seal and protect the wood, and it enables the final coat of paint to adhere better, and helps the surface paint resist moisture and mildew.

I want my painted beehives to last. And if you don’t want to bother with painting it yourself, just browse IzzabellaBeez and order one of her gorgeous hand-painted hives on-line.