(I just love this nuc - especially the way the bees just hang out on the outside!)
Here's a video of the activity at the entrance (since some of my blog followers like videos) :
Last month I bought a bunch of woodenware for new hives from Brush Mountain. Unfortunately, it comes completely unassembled - that is my job. Luckily, the wood is cut and the box joints are prepared (they even drilled holes for the nails).
I had some time today so I spent it out in the (hot!) garage. I started with assembling the hive pieces. I make sure to use exterior wood glue to make the joints last longer. I assembled 2 medium supers, 3 deep supers, and one deep nuc. Here is the unpainted wood:
Whenever I am at Walmart or Home Depot I always look at the "mis-tint" paints. These are cans of paint which for some reason were improperly colored, and are usually offered at a discount. I bought a quart of nice blue paint from Sears for $1.50 and a quart of a really good looking pink/purple from Walmart for $3.50. The bees don't care what color the hive is.
Some beekeepers don't bother painting their hives, and those are usually commercial beekeepers where the time to paint takes away from their profit. But for hobby beekeepers like myself, the part of the fun of the experience is the painting.
I always put a coat of Kills primer before I paint, as I want the wood to last a long time. I had a 2" shim I made last year which I didn't paint, and it looked real bad after a season (I painted it this week).
I have a real neat system of drying the paint - I hang the pieces on my garage door rail with pieces of coat hanger!
I decided to paint the Nuc blue:
And the rest of the hive pieces will be painted the pink/purple:
Things will be drying overnight. If the paint is dry enough, maybe I'll put the hive together tomorrow and move the bees.
I assembled all of the woodenware today, but only painted the parts to make a one deep/one medium hive. I'll paint the rest later.
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