Beehives are the best way to begin the hobby of beekeeping. Let us give you a brief introduction on what a beehive is. A beehive is a box or a wooden house for the bees to reside in; they breed, make honey, and follow their queen into the new house. Keeping the bees is a task that you have to carry out with utmost care.
After all, you will be responsible for the lives of numerous bees. A good beehive makes this very easy for you. Not only does it give you organic and pure honey, but you can also learn a great deal about the lifecycle of the bees.
This article will help all the newbie beekeepers figure out what kind of hive they should get before starting the beekeeping. We also have mentioned some of the best beehives you can choose from.
| Hoover Hives 10 Frame
 
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| Beecastle 10-frame
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| Beecastle 8-frame
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| Nubee Hive BeeHive
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| Honey Keeper Beehive
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| Hoover Hives 8 Frame
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This Post Contents
Best Bee Hive Boxes
1. Hoover Hives 10 Frame Langstroth Beehive
If you are an aspiring beekeeper and looking to get a brand new beehive to give the bees a perfect home, add Hoover hives’ beehive to your list. The 10 frame Langstroth beehive’s exterior is made from fir wood, and the whole thing is framed with pine wood. The beehive is dipped in beeswax, and because of that, it promotes more comb building.
The beehive has a foundation made from food-grade plastic to make sure that the taste of your honey does not change.
One thing we learned is that 30 CellTech’s deep foundations enable your queen bees to lay about 6,800 eggs and brood them. It even has 30 New Zealand pine frames to make it even better.
You will get Wax coated solid bottom board, telescoping top cover, entrance reducer, and inner cover. Everything to get you started on getting the bees in your beehive. The beehive comes with a metal telescope to cover the top that automatically shields the hive from outer harmful elements.
If we just look at the exterior of the beehive, it is alluring to the eyes, and because it is all covered with beeswax, the bees also settle themselves pretty quickly and make a layer of the comb. The color of the beehive can make it easier for you to even see the honey your bees are collecting.
There is no hassle about installing the beehive, and it just takes about a few minutes only before it can be ready for those bees to settle in.
After some research, we established that this is one of the most budget-friendly Beehives you can get if you are just starting to breed the bees. It is one of the Beehives that is loved and adored by the customers who have already purchased it.
2. Beecastle 10-frame Complete Beehive Kit
Beecastle offers beginner bee breeding enthusiasts one of the pocket-friendly beehives you can get in the market. Its 10 frames are made from premium dovetail pine frames with a perfect beeswax coated surface. All the frames are perfectly coated in beeswax and the telescoping top metal cover.
Because the whole thing is dipped in beeswax, it also gives your bees a perfect home. You get two options on the same kind of beehive; one that is 3 frames and the other that is 2 frames. Depending upon your requirement and the number of bees that you are planning to get, you can choose a perfect one for you.
You will get a plastic queen excluder to make sure you can collect the honey, and the plastic excluder is also safe for the bees. You will also get an entrance reducer and nails to set it up easily.
Installation and setting up the beehive are going to take only just a little bit of effort. The whole beehive is excluded from any toxic paint or any kind of paint, for that matter. You can rest assured after purchasing this beehive about your bees’ safety.
Apart from the amazing outlook of the beehive’s model, it is also one of the most preferable and high-rated beehive beginner beekeepers choose to get. It is the highest quality beehive available among the many possible choices. The dovetail joints make the assembly very easy and tight.
When you purchase the beehive, you will get the lid, base, and separator assembled, making it easier for you to set up the whole thing to get your bees their perfect home and make honey. We are pretty sure that your bees will directly settle themselves in because of the generous beeswax coating.
3. Beecastle 8-frame Beehive Kit
Since you are on this article looking to get a beehive to start the bee breeding, we recommend you to start with the small beehive. This 8 frame beehive comes with two layers that are perfectly coated in beeswax.
The whole beehive is made from dovetail pine wood. Dovetail pine wood is very well known for its long-lastingness and its premium quality. So if you are giving those bees their home, why not give them one which is the best, right?
Beecastle is well known for the beehives that it sells in the market; it evenly coats the solid bottom board and telescoping top cover with the beeswax, making it safely home for your bees. The look of the beehive itself is premium, and you do not require to paint it with any toxic paints to make it look fabulous.
You will get a telescoping top metal cover to make the management of the inside very easy for you. The whole hive weighs around 36 pounds. Even the installation and setting up of the hive will not consume much of your time.
You can easily move your bees right into their home on the very same day you get your hive. You get the hive and all the necessary parts to get started on beekeeping.
Make sure you get all the basic knowledge you need to get before you start breeding your bees. Beecastle has multiple sets of beehives you can get depending upon your budget and your knowledge of bees.
But let us tell you if you are looking to start beekeeping and this beehive will be your first beehive, you can add this one to your probable choice of purchase
4. Nubee Hive BeeHive with Frames
We are here to help the newbie beekeepers who are looking for a perfect beehive to start the beekeeping that they want to do. Nubee hive is made out of durable pine wood and completely coated in wax to make sure that your bees get the perfect home to live in.
This hive is for those who have little knowledge about how beekeeping is done as it is in total 16 frames. This might be one of the good choices for you if you are planning to get a good number of bees to keep.
It has two types of boxes in the whole hive, 8 frames for the deep bee box and 8 frames for the medium bee box, total in all 16 frames.
The foundations are made out of 24 CellTech that have been completely and properly coated in beeswax. Beekeeping is not an easy job, and we understand that you have to make sure your beehive is perfect for making your beekeeping 50% easy for you.
You will get a telescoping metal cover for the outside and inside of the hive on your purchase. A plastic queen excluder to easily spot the queen bee and transfer it to your new hive, plus which is a very important part of the honey to be produced—the bottom board of the solid wood.
The whole hive, including everything, will cost you comparatively less when compared with other same-size hives available in the market. Moreover, Nubee’s hive is long-lasting and adored by the customers.
You will not require any rocket science to assemble the hive with its box and frames. Just a half an hour out of the day and the time that requires to move sweet bees into their new home.
You can use this model in two different types, Dovetail 2 brood box with 16 frames that will be made out of premium quality pine frames and Dovetail 1 super box with 8 frames, which will also be made out of premium quality pine frames.
Depending upon the number of bees you are planning to keep, you can choose the best one with the perfect number of frames preferable to you.
5. Honey Keeper Beehive 20 Frame Complete kit
We have one more adored and pocket-friendly beehive to add to the list of the best beehives that are perfect for you to get for your sweet bees to produce honey. Honey keeper’s 20 frame beehive can be put in that list without any stress. It has 10 deep and 10 medium frames, all made of great quality wood.
All of these 20 frames are superframes with the proper foundation for your beehive. You will also get a pre-assembled telescoping roof to look at how the bees are doing in their cute home.
Moreover, it will also make sure that the other elements like deadly insects, heavy wind, rain, etc., keep your bees out of harm. The whole beehive consists of the solid bottom board, inner cover, 20 superframes, an entrance reducer, and a queen excluder.
When compared to the other beehives, we discovered that it costs relatively less than any other beehive with the same number of frames available in the market. The whole beehive measures 23 inches in length and 18-1/4 inches in width by 19-13/4 inches in height, which is a pretty idle size to house a good number of bees.
Installation for the beehive is also very easy, and you will receive the whole thing with pre-cut frames and hexagonal-shaped foundation surfaces.
What you will have to do is to assemble the whole thing and make it ready for the bees. The assembly of the hive will be easier with the heavy-duty nails you will receive with the purchase.
One drawback of the hive is that it weighs a little too heavy to be managed by a newbie beekeeper. It weighs around 46.5 pounds, which means you cannot move your bees when you want to, but it will give your bees quite the space to produce more honey, and it can help you increase the number of bees you want in your beehive.
6. Hoover Hives 8 Frame Beehive Kit
When we are listing the best beehives in the market for you to choose from, we can never miss out on adding Hoover Hives’ beehive kit. The whole hive is perfectly dipped and covered in beeswax, making it look alluring without the need for any toxic paint.
The beehive kit will include a bottom board, telescoping top cover, entrance reducer, and inner cover. The hive includes 2 deep brood boxes and 1 medium-sized box. It is perfect for people who are planning to start beekeeping.
You will get the beehive semi-assembled, all you gotta do is put some nails, and your beehive will be ready to house the beautiful bees. The whole hive has different honey super to keep the honey separate from the beginning.
The hive also has a mouse guard to make sure no mouse finds their way inside the beehive. With that, you can keep your hive anywhere in your garden without worrying about the mouses.
The hive is made from premium quality pine from New Zealand. The hive is made from honey-colored wood that gives it an amazing finish, and you will not require to paint the hive for a good look.
The hive has a telescoping cover to help you peek inside to get a good look at your bees. The top cover is made from the galvanized steel that makes it rust-free and perfectly safe for the bees.
It is an ideal hive for those who want to get started on beekeeping. One drawback of this hive is that it weighs around 55 pounds. Hence, once you set it up somewhere, it will be very difficult for you to move.
7. FUNPENY Wooden Insect House
If you are one of those customers who find insects and butterflies interesting as well as bees. Funpeny offers you a different product than the usual beehives that you get. This insect house not only gives home to the bees but also gives home to insects and butterflies.
How amazing is that? We cannot forget to mention how adorable the whole thing looks. It’s like a little mixed family hotel for cute little bees, insects, and butterflies. You must be wondering how it is possible for all of these insects to find a home in just one wooden house.
The whole wooden house is waterproof and has pre-installed living space for insects like sawdust, pine cones, bamboo joints, cedarwood, etc. This allows the insects to feel safe inside the little spaces, completely safe from human touch or preying birds.
It has also been mentioned by the manufacturer that it mainly attracts bees, ladybugs, and butterflies. The whole wooden house weighs less than 3 pounds, and you can hang it on your porch railing or put it in your backyard garden.
It provides a safe home to insects and bees in any weather. The whole wooden house is completely weatherproof and gives you the most satisfaction when you see those cute little insects making their home in that little wooden arranged box.
Although the number of insects moving in their new house totally depends on the area that you live in. If there are not many insects that reside in your area, you might have to install the house somewhere else for a few days to let the insects move in; otherwise, it will be just a decorative piece.
There is also no such thing as installation when it comes to Funpeny wooden insect houses. What you will have to do is that attach to any wall or ground, so the heavy wind does not blow off the house or insects residing in it.
You will get the whole prearranged house. A wooden insect house is a nice way to have a zoo of cute little insects in our backyard garden. Not to forget that you can also make it a beehive.
How to Choose the Best Bee Hive: Buying guide
When you are purchasing your first beehive, and you do not have much idea about beekeeping, we aim to eliminate that issue with this article. There are certain things you should figure out first before making your purchase for the beehive. We will learn in detail about what to look for and what to avoid when you are purchasing a hive for beekeeping.
When should I purchase the hive?
Now, if you are a newbie when it comes to bees, you should know that the most suitable time to install a beehive is in spring when all insects, birds, and trees are blooming in nature. The bee population mostly grows in the warm nature when the flowers are blooming, and pollen is all filled.
It is the perfect time you can find a perfect colony for your hive; the researchers have shown April to be a pretty perfect month to grow your bee colony or to catch a perfect colony that can reside within your hive.
Before you end up choosing or purchasing the hive, make sure that you check on laws regarding the same. It is necessary to know whether beekeeping is allowed in your city or state. You can directly call the agricultural office to get to know whether you can keep the beehive on your private property or in your backyard garden.
Here are the few things you have to specifically see to before purchasing a hive,
- Find yourself a mentor– Before you purchase a hive without any knowledge about the bees and how it works, make sure you have somebody who can guide you through all the precautions you need to take care of for yourself and for the bees that you are planning to get accustomed to in your hive. There is a very high probability that if you do not have proper knowledge about beekeeping or the hive, you might end up hurting the bees or yourself.
- Find out everything you need to know about bees– Before you take the bees in to give them a permanent residency in your house, you need to learn about all the different kinds of bees you can find in nature. There are chances that the bees that find their way from nature to your hive can be wild and are also capable of causing problems to you and your neighborhood.
- Find out the kind of kit you will need– Before you purchase the hive, you will need to answer the most important question of all. What kind of hive kit you will need. Usually, to answer this question, below mentioned questions would make it easy for you,
- How many bees do I want in my colony?
- How much knowledge do I have about bees?
- Are there Mice where I am planning to keep my hive?
- What is my capability to maintain the hive?
- Am I planning to get professionally into beekeeping?
After you have figured these questions, you can choose what kind of kit and what size of hive you will need. Still, there are certain points remaining that you will have to see before making your decision on which hive to choose.
Honey Harvest
If you are planning to do the beekeeping based on the sole aim of producing honey, you will have to check for the hive that makes the honey harvesting easy for you. There are some hives available in the market which come with easily detachable frames to make honey harvesting easy for the beekeepers.
Beeswax coating
This is the most important part of any hive boxes that you will get; because of the beeswax, it is very easy for the bees to settle themselves easily inside the hive box. Always make sure you get a hive box that is generously coated with beeswax. Not only that its good for the bees, but it also makes the exterior look awesome. You will not require to paint the hive box with any toxic paint which can be harmful to the bees you are colonizing.
Design
The decision of this kind totally depends on the beekeeper, but the truth is it also depends on where you plan to install your hive. Remember this before choosing the hive that no matter what kind of design you decide to purchase, it should be easy for the bees to easily move in and out of the hive. It should also be made to ensure that you can monitor the bees and their growth.
Material quality or type
For the hive, this has to be the most important factor. Your hive should be made of material that is suitable for the bees. For example, if your hive is made out of plastic, there are chances that your bees will move out as soon as you move them in. It also depends on the quality of the wood the hive is made out of. The best kind of hive is made from premium pine wood and coated generously in beeswax. These two things make it extremely easy for the bees to settle themselves in the hive.
Budget
Based on the budget that you have in your mind, you can shortlist any of the above-mentioned hives. It is also necessary to know that when it comes to hives, the money that you spend on them does not ensure the breeding of the bees. You will have to check if there is any toxic material, paint in the hive if there is enough beeswax coating to ensure the bees’ safety.
Installation
This might be an important part for some of the beekeepers. How you install the beehive is the first and foremost step of the beekeeping process. Most of the hives come pre-assembled. You just have to set it up at the place you want your beehive to be. Some of the hives do not come pre-assembled with nails to make the installation easy for you.
Even if you have to assemble the whole hive before you move the bees inside it, it will not consume much of your time. But it is advised that you should always see the installation process before you purchase a hive.
Mouse Guard
Some of the gardens are full of mice, and if there are not at present, they will come looking for food once they will catch the buzz of the bees. If you are installing the hive in a garden space which is suggested that you should. You have to get a hive that has a mouse guard in it. What happens with the mouse guard is that it prevents the mouse from teething its way inside the hive and eat the bees,
Conclusion
We hope that the above article will help you choose the perfect hive for your newly acquired hobby to get the bees settled in as your homies.
Bees are very delicate creatures, and we have to make sure that the hive that we are getting for them turns out to be a home to them. An ideal hive is not only beneficial for the bees. It is also beneficial for the honey production that you get from the hive.
Before you end up choosing a hive for your bee colony, make sure that you decide upon one after careful consideration of your needs and the quality of the hive. Make sure that before you make your purchase, you do not forget about the most important functions that we have mentioned above.