Renovation work or the construction of a new hive implies the choice of paint of a certain shade. And this is a very serious moment, since the correct orientation of these insects in space depends on what colors the bee hives are painted in. Simply put, bees will not confuse houses and stop falling into other people’s nests.
The content of the article
- 1 A little about bee vision
- 1.1 Color preferences
- 2 Which color to choose
- 3 What to do when relocating bee colonies
- 4 Plastic shields
A little about bee vision
To approach the coloring of hives from a scientific point of view, we will make a small digression – we will briefly talk about the peculiarities of the color vision of honey bees.
Insects have a pair of large lateral compound eyes, complemented by three small simple eyes – they can be seen in the upper part of the “forehead”.
The light sensitivity of these organs is due to pigments – special chemical compounds that selectively absorb light rays. This is the physiological basis of vision, which should not be forgotten when choosing a shade of any, even homemade, paint for bee houses.
Honeybees are good at distinguishing any color, but they perceive them in a completely different way than a person. They react to ultraviolet radiation inaccessible to human eyes.
Color preferences
In order not to be mistaken with the hive colors that bees love, remember the following:
Insects do not perceive red color and its shades! The objection here follows that honeybees in nature readily visit red flowers. Yes that’s right. But this is solely due to the susceptibility of their eye pigments to ultraviolet light, which is reflected from the red inflorescences.
White paint will be perceived by bee vision ambiguously. It all depends on the same ultraviolet rays. If the paint reflects them, for example, this is how lead white is made, the bees will see pure white. If it absorbs like zinc white, the color from the point of view of the bees will be distorted – it will become blue-green.
Simple eyes are endowed with the ability to perceive both blue-green rays and ultraviolet light. The green pigment distinguishes between pure yellow, orange and blue. In this case, the shades of the listed colors will be considered by bees only if they are perceived simultaneously by two eye pigments. If a shade falls into the field of view of only one pigment, it can be falsely mixed with another color. For example, green and orange will easily merge with yellow.
Which color to choose
Regions with very hot summers require painting the bee houses white, which protects the nest well from high temperatures. Covers are coated with silver.
In all other cases, the chosen colors should be bright. Wandering and insect raids will become rare if you use:
- blue;
- light blue;
- yellow;
- light yellow;
- White color.
To make bee houses individual – that is, easy to remember and help honeybees to find their nests faster, you can use various patterns on the front wall. Beekeepers often draw ornaments and simple pictures (images of bees, flowers) using stencils. The same is done with the release of factory plastic hives.
What to do when relocating bee colonies
Often in the process of work, especially at the beginning of summer, beekeepers have to move nests from one house to another. This happens when bee colonies unite or divide.
It is extremely difficult to do such work without a stock of hives of the desired color, because insects, accustomed to the color of their hive, are reluctant to go to other houses.
A little trick will help here. It is necessary to cut several sheets of plywood exactly to the size of the front wall of the house. In the sheets at the bottom of the opening slots are cut. The blanks are made in two colors: one side is yellow, and the other is blue. Accordingly, all bee houses in the apiary are painted only with yellow and blue paint.
When bee colonies are relocated from a blue hive to a yellow one, the plywood turns outward with the blue side, is installed on the arrival board and is attached to the front wall in any way convenient for the beekeeper. The same must be done when moving bees from a yellow house to a blue one, with the only difference that the plywood will look outward with the yellow side.
Insects are easily deceived and willingly flock to a new house, which now has their usual color.
The method works great when dividing nests for half a year or combining bee colonies. And he came to us from V.F. Stepurin from the city of Ulyanovsk. For which special thanks to him.
Plastic shields
Nomadic apiaries are directly dependent on maneuverability in work. The fewer tools and necessary devices you have to carry with you, the easier it is for beekeepers. And the large size of the apiaries makes the choice of paint shades limited.
You can solve the problem using small pieces of multi-colored plastic measuring 15 by 25 centimeters… At the same time, all bee houses have one color, for example, light blue, which simplifies and reduces the range of paints in beekeeping. As a result, it will be easier to touch up hives that have faded over time.
Shields are hung near the tap holes. When replacing hives or hives, they are removed and outweighed to their original places. That is, a minimum of effort is required from the beekeeper to facilitate the orientation of the bees in space.
We hope that our information helped you make the best decision for your apiary. And you have finally decided in what colors you need to paint the hives. The main thing, as described above, is not to forget about the peculiarities of the color vision of honey bees.
You can read about the types of paints here: How to properly paint bee hives
