Go ahead, admit it — we’re all friends here. One of the most annoying tasks for the beekeeper is painting supers. Since you need to paint all six sides, there’s no way to do it without making a giant mess. Every time I have to paint supers, it feels like a scene from an infomercial for the latest painting-tool gadget, where some poor inept guy, covered in paint, throws his hands up in defeat and asks, “Isn’t there a better way?”

Well, there is a better way for us beekeepers…

All you need are some short scraps of 2×4 lumber and a piece of 1/2″ rebar (get this in the masonry section of Home Depot). Cut the boards as follows:

Qty 2: 14 1/2 ”

Qty 2: 15 1/2 ”

Qty 1: 11 1/2″.

Assemble the pieces as shown, using 3″ drywall screws. Drill a 3/4″ hole directly in the center of the middle board as shown.

Next, rig up something to hold the piece of 1/2 rebar at a comfortable painting height, as shown. I use my workbench vice. Then slip the box over the rebar. Give it a spin to make sure it rotates smoothly.

Now you’re ready to paint. Get your paint tray and roller queued up, and slip the super to be painted over the box. Be sure to center the super over the 2×4’s so that you can easily paint both the front and back edges.

Now you’re ready to paint. Here’s a short video showing how I use this tool:

When you’re finished painting. remove the super by lifting on the unpainted inner surface, and then hang it up to dry. Shelf brackets work well for this purpose.

I hope that this technique makes your painting tasks a little less awful.

~Eric