Painting or Staining your hive
We highly recommend that you protect your hive by either painting or staining it. A lot of people who are putting their hive in full sun choose the standard white paint to keep the hive cool in the direct afternoon sun. While this is certainly better than nothing, our best recommendation would be to go with an oil stain wherever possible. Oil stains provide protection while still allowing the wood to breathe, where paint can trap moisture in the wood. We suggest the Cabot Australian Timber Oil product as we have used it on our own hives and had great success with it. This is sold by both Rona and Lowes here in Canada. Note that we are not affiliated Cabot, Rona, or Lowes in any way. Alternatively, Tung oil is also a good option (one of the 3 components in the Australian timber oil) when painting or staining your hive. Make sure to only stain the outside of the hive.