Just wondering how did you use for the hive? Just a 1lt bottle or did you need more? Cheers about to order from the website now.
Iāve painted the outside of my hive with bright red outdoor grade paint which seems to be holding well. The roof however was painted black with an Also brand which is definitely not holding up and the inside has succumbed to mold through the rain. Iām going to disassemble, drill a few small ventilation holes in the peak of the gabled roof under the eaves and probably treat with tung oil and a coat of beeswax from my own hive before covering the top with copper tape -
Itās nothing Iāve seen recommended, just experimenting with whatās available and cost-effective. Will update when finished.
Hi Josh, I paint my hives white. White is the best color to paint hives because it doesnāt get as hot as a dark color in the sun. I know black gets very hot in the sun, I would assume that bright red would also get quite hot.
cheers
Where it sits it only gets sun for a few hours either side of noon, so with a good functioning roof the sides of the hive hardly warm at all even on the hottest days. Even the landing platform doesnāt heat up all that much. I quite like the ārevolutionaryā aesthetic - worker bees of all hives, unite!
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Iāve contacted a roofer in Sydney who actually offered me a piece of copper sheeting to use for free, so hopefully I can make something both functional and striking with it.
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I finished up converting my flow roof to a flat roof, mainly because Iām always looking for something flat to rest things on. Plus you can sit another hive on top if the occasion arises, which frequently does for me.
Finally finished the replacement roof and thought Iād share. Itās only tacked down and havenāt bothered sealing it. Might wait for cooler weather when the copper isnāt so hot and open the inner plug so the bees can propolize the gaps as they like.
How hot does the copper get? If it gets quite hot in the sun & assuming your hive is in the sun as the photo suggests, a good idea would be to paint it white. Make sure that water canāt seep into the roof via capillary action from the gable ends.
Quite hot, but it only gets a couple of hours of direct sun and the bees didnāt seem too bothered. Iāll take a few temperature readings from inside the hive at high noon later on to see how it goes. I donāt think water is going to run up over the folds along the edges either, but Iāll monitor.
Do you sand between coats?
Hello and welcome to the Flow forum! 
Personally, I donāt. The wood surface is already pretty rough cut (not furniture cut), so I coat it and then wipe off the excess. The only time I sand is when refreshing an old coat of oil. Then the sanding helps to take off the adhering pollution and any mildew that might have built up.
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Thank you! I am new to beekeeping and have a lot to learn! Your post was very helpful!
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One other question: I live in Broomfield, CO and it gets hot in the summer but also sometimes very cold in the winter. Should I paint my roof light colored (for the summer) or dark (to soak up the sun in the winter)?
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Paint it light, and then use insulation and a moisture quilt for the winter. If you donāt know what a moisture quilt is, you can search this forum using the Magnifying Glass tool at the top of the screen. There is lots of information on how to make one, should you want to do that. You could also search for āwinterizingā your hive
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Very helpful - thanks!
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