Bees are an amazing creation that has a sweet relation with us. A perfect beehive is a link between the honey makers and the human being. Bee hive boxes at house require necessary pieces of equipment that you need to start beekeeping.
Accordingly, you must spend some time and carefully choose the hive that will boost production and increase the colony. One wrong decision will lead you to the ultimate failure in beekeeping.
As a beginner, you will find lots of confusion to choose the right one. Due to that reason, we have reviewed 10 of the best contenders that will guide you to make a wise decision.
All our suggested products are cost-effective and time-saving as most of them are ready-made or have an easy installation process.
Table of Contents
Types of Bee Hive
A perfect beehive should assure comfort to the bee and convenience to humans. Therefore, you must be aware of the different types of beehives. We have described them below for your assistance.
The Langstroth Hive
When someone says ‘beehive’, the instant image that touches our mind is a Langstroth type hive. The inventor of this revolutionary box is L.L. Langstroth who gave it a narrow chest drawer design.
You can expand this vertical size box in either side. It supports various compartments like super and brood section. It offers two core compartments where the upper section is a little smaller than the lower.
Since the nursery or brooding section is positioned at the lower part, it needs a larger space to grow the colony In the mean time, the honeycomb or supper stays in the top position. Thus, it requires less storage space.
The Long/Horizontal Hive
The horizontal hive is developed from the traditional hive. Typically, the conventional Langstroth hive possesses a vertical shape offering separate upper and lower sections for brood and supers. On the other hand, a long/horizontal hive facilitates both brood and supers in the same section side by side.
It’s scientifically proved that bees are well disciplined and social in terms of building their colony along with daily activities. These findings have implemented in the long/horizontal hive. It’s found that bees maintain the brood section near the entrance area and the honey storing segment beside the brooding area.
The key benefit of this is a flatly extended workstation where all compartments of a bee colony are positioned in a row. This design provides an excellent opportunity for disabled people to start beekeeping without much difficulty.
It is straightforward to collect honey and take care of the bees in these types of hives. These hives also included side looking windows to observe the bees, especially on the winter seasons without disturbing them by lifting the lid each time.
The Warre Hive
A French abbot named Emile Warré designed ‘Warre hive’ that provides minimum interference to bee’s day to day activities. This hive has no added frames. Bees have to build the colony naturally with a strategically placed top bar.
The bees can come and go without any hindrance or barrier using the wide open entrance at the bottom of the hive. Generally, additional boxes are placed above the hive. In this case, they are positioned below the brood box.
The ventilation and temperature inside the hive are controlled by the quilt box technology that boosts up the production and growth.
Top Bar Hive
Top bar hive is made with the combination of warre and traditional Langstroth hive. This hybrid hive design contains a top bar where bees will build their comb naturally without any added frames.
The top bar is trapezoid in shape that allows the bees to create a perfectly natural looking comb which is super effective in terms of production. As the name suggests, there is only a top bar, without any frame. It has turned the box into a natural way to produce honey.
10 Best Beehive Reviews
Let’s drive into the part you are here for. These are our picks for the top beehives out there.
Honey Keeper Beehive 20 Frame Complete Box Kit
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If you are looking for a complete beehive that offers a trouble-free installation, your search ends here. The honey keepers 20 frame beehive is designed for pro-beekeepers as well as beginners.
This hive provides features like pre-cut finger joints and nails that ensures a simple assembling without any prior experience. It offers a combination of 10 deep and 10 medium hive frames. With these frames, you can manage your hive successfully which will lead to the sweetest reward.
The deep Langstroth style frames are 9-5/8 inches high whereas the medium frames have a length of 6-5/8 inches. You don’t have to worry about your bee’s security as it has entrance reducers. They control the air flow by limiting outsiders to enter into the hive.
This hive offers an excellent solution for the blustery winter season. It has a solid bottom board that keeps the bees warmer and prevents them from clumping under the hive. The interior is covered with an inner cover that creates a bee-friendly environment.
Other noticeable features include a queen excluder and the roof cover. The queen excluder limits the access of the queen to the honey chamber that ensures a clean and efficient honey production. The pre-assembled telescopic metal roof provides a cool and dry interior in every season.
Pros
- Premium quality materials
- Both deep and medium quality
- Easy to set-up and operate
- Large capacity with the bee-friendly environment
- Waterproof and durable
Cons
- Little heavy after installation
Complete Hive Kit, Unpainted, Assembled, Made in the USA
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Mann Lake is one of the most successful beehive manufacturers operating their business for over 30 years with their inclusive series of quality beehives and customer services. This employee-owned company delivers premium products and services with pride.
Their complete hive kit has everything you may require to start and continue your apiculture business successfully. Expert to beginners, it’s unpainted ten frames 9-5/8-inch body offers a suitable environment for successful honey production without harming the bees.
Thanks to their patented Rite-cellTM foundation that motivates bees to build their comb in a straight line. The ten assembled 9-5/10 inches waxed wooden frame increase productivity. Its yellow color creates a flowery outer-look that offers a bee welcoming environment.
The solid bottom board provides various benefits such as keeping the bees warmer during cold months, preventing bees from clumping under the hives, detecting hazardous insects entering into the colony, and so on.
It also has an entrance reducer that gives the beekeepers more control while collecting nectar or maintaining hives. Bee-keepers are typically asked to use this installation before winter kicks off as a precaution from rodents to enter and damage the bees.
The colored telescoping cover gives protection from all kinds of environments while maintaining a classy outlook. As the entire kit is pre-assembled, you don’t have to worry about the installation except the painting is needed to start beekeeping.
Pros
- Langstroth beehive with standard ten frame capacity
- Pre-assembled and ready to go
- Spacious and productive
- Wooden frames Waxed with Rite-cell TM foundation
Cons
- Heavy to lift and carry
Apimaye 10 Frame Langstroth Insulated Bee Hive
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Apimaye 10 frame is one of those beehives that offer insulation for keeping your bees warm and dry all the year round. The element used to produce this awesome looking beehive is food grade UV-resistance plastic that ensures durability. This material is famous for its anti-static additives.
As the name suggests, this Langstroth insulated beehive has ten frames. The package includes 20 plastic frames, and you can use them with the wooden frames interchangeably.
These plastic frames offer a proper solution to fungus growth problem that is a concerning problem for the wooden frames. However, as a result of the nonmoisture absorbing ability and advanced ventilation system, these frames have proved them to be bee friendly.
This beehive lessens winter food consumption and stimulates the colony to grow. Thus, your production after the bitter winter is going to increase at a noticeable percentage.
A screening board with a pollen trap is placed on the bottom of the beehive.It enables bees to store fresh pollen along with preventing Varroa mite and small incests from entering the hive.
The entrance reducer gives you more control over the bee when you need to collect honey or merely move the hive to another place. A queen excluder along with two divisions of the uniting board help to produce more honey ensuring the limited access of the queen bee in the supers’ area.
Pros
- High quality materials
- Top cover feeder
- Bottom screen board
- Premium outlook with plus orange color
Cons
- This hive cost little more than others
Busy Bees –N- More Complete 8 Frame Langstroth Bee Hive
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Handcrafted beehives are preferable more than other hives among most of the beekeepers. As these boxes are made with care and caution, the chance of errors and significant flaws are little.
Busy bees –n- more is one of those handmade beehive boxes where your bees are going to live happily offering lots of honey. This hive is made with high-quality materials that capture the instant attention of the bees to colonize.
While un-boxing, you are going to find 16 frames for brood and 8 pre-cut frames for supers. These frames are made with high-quality pine that assures durability and long term growth of your bee colony.
The ‘24 food-grade plastic coat’ offers a natural flavor that motivates bees to be more effective. Its plastic frames are assembled in a hexagonal shape which is waxed with real beeswax.
The combination of the telescopic top cover and the inner cover ascertains a dry and warm interior in all weather. A screened bottom board acts as ventilation along with the access to see below the hive.
Although the standard beehives are ten frame kits, this eight frame beehive box still is the best beehive for beginners because it is effortless to assemble and manage. You can easily join the box with the glue and pre-cut frames included with the package.
Pros
- Super quality material
- Easy tool to start as a beginner
- Real bee wax coat
- 8 deep frames
Cons
- Not a standard size beehive box
Goodland Bee Supply Complete 3 Tier Beginner’s Bee Hive Kit-GL3STACK
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Goodland beginner’s beehive is one of the best bee hives that has everything you need to kick off your bee business effectively. With this complete 3 tier beginner beehive kit, you can manage your bees more naturally and successfully with increased production.
When unboxed, you will find two supers with 20 large and 10 small frames. All of these frames have made from high-quality pine that has made it durable and given that classy look.
You will notice minimum rejection at the time of building honeycomb. That’s because the frames are waxed with food-grade plastic foundation. However, these pre-waxed frames create enthusiasm in the bees to grow the colony and collect more pollen.
Accordingly, there is a bottom baseboard provides excellent support to control the moisture inside the hive and also keep the bees protected from outside threats. In the mean time, an entrance reducer facilitates you to control the movements of the bees during maintenance or collecting nectar.
Whether it is winter or summer, you don’t have to worry about your bee colony, because the telescoping lid of this beehive box gives you 360 days weather protection by keeping your hive warm and dry.
The interior cover provides a warm and insulating air space so that bees can lead a healthy life in every season. A queen excluder is also available in the kit that limits the movement of the queen.
Pros
- Advanced beehive for the beginners
- Nicely packaged
- Queen Excluder
- 20 large and 10 small wooden frames
Cons
- This kit doesn’t come with an instruction manual about construction
Ware Manufacturing Home Harvest Bee Hive
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Ware manufacturing home harvest beehive is one of the best bee hive boxes that support bees with everything they need to grow their colony. You are going to love its design along with the increased production capacity.
This beehive box visualizes a ‘hut’ like outlook that is quite rare in the beehive industry. Its shape has made it sophisticated in the beehive market. The body is built with Solid Cedar Wood. It ensures durable and convenient use. This box has a large brooding area that can facilitate large size bee colony.
On the other hand, you are not going to see any frames or foundations with the package, because this box is built like Warre hive designs where bees create colony by their own on the top ban inside the box.
This type of hives implies zero artificial stress on the bees. Thus, they become more productive and build the honeycomb naturally.
Likewise, its classy roof design is known as the packed roof that keeps water away from your bees. In addition, you can adjust the airflow with its advanced ventilation system according to the seasonal need because temperature plays a vital role in honey production.
You will find two dedicated windows that help you to observe the bees clearly from both sides of the box. This box is very easy to assemble and easy to use.
Pros
- Built with solid cedar wood
- Sophisticated design
- Adjustable airflow system
- Dry and clean interior
Cons
- You may have to paint the box
Happybuy H105, 10-Frame (8-Frame Available), Bee Hive
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Happybuy produces a variety of beehives with stunning design and lots of options. It offers customization option to the hive with external frames. The box supports both medium and deep size frames correctly and serves efficiently for a more extended period.
It is made with high-quality New Zealand pine that serves you for decades with sweet honey produced by its residents. The frame provides easy assembly as there are pre-cut points to join the structure together without much effort. You will feel the added strength of the hive just after the installation.
On the other hand, the inner cover of the box is designed to provide ventilation and additional entrance for the lovely honey-makers. The package will not include any frames. However, you can attach both deep and medium frames of any size. Its 1-5/8 inch pre-cut fingers allow it to be so versatile.
You can have both eight or standard ten frames inside the hive. Its safety features include a bottom board that is designed to prevent insects and predators from entering into the hive. The design offers easy removal and installation so that every class of experience level can handle this box comfortably and profitably.
Pros
- New Zealand pine is used to build this heavy beehive
- The advanced ventilation system in the inner cover
- Pre-cut 1-5/8 inches fingers
- A safe and secure bottom board
Cons
- You have to buy frames additionally
VIVO Complete Beekeeping 20 frame Beehive Box
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If you are planning to buy a perfect beehive that serves effectively with lots of space, you should have a VIVO complete 20 frame beehive box kit. This quality beehive supports both deep and medium frames altogether.
The Main components used to produce this long lasting beehive is chemical free painted pine wood. Accordingly, tthis 20 frame Langstroth beehive is designed creatively that enables to boost up the beekeeping experience.
Its box offers a hexagonal surface foundation where you will find 10 deep and 10 medium frames. These frames are made of food-grade plastic and waxed with chemical free paint so that they can serve decades with reliability.
The producers know about your bee colony threats. In that regard, they have added a sheet covered telescopic lid that secures the colony against all types of external danger and keeps your bees productive for 360 days.
This kit also has a queen excluder that is positioned in between deep and medium frames which limits the movements of the queen. You will get an unassembled package that is packed with care as well.
The box is easy to assemble, so you don’t have to worry about instilling the set. They also provide an instruction manual and all the necessary kits like the screw, bolts, and nuts with the package.
Pros
- Made from pine wood
- Hexagonal surface foundation
- Queen Excluder
- Trouble-free assemble
Cons
- Expensive compared to the other beehives
Popsport Langstroth Bee Hive
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Popsport Langstroth beehive is one of the safest and most convenient hives to start a successful journey in the industry. The manufacturers have given it a premium design without compromising quality and efficiency. This equipment is one of the unique and specialized tools for all level beekeepers.
It is made with high-quality cedar wood that serves flawlessly for decades by taking great care of your bee colony. The upper lid is a galvanized metal cap that protects the insiders from an outsider threat along with keeping the hive dry and warm in all weather.
You will find five hive boxes in the package where each box can facilitate 10 deep frames comfortably. Unfortunately, you have to buy the frames since the box doesn’t have any frame along with the package.
A conventional flow technology may require to extract honey from the frame. However, you need to buy the flow key at first as the package doesn’t have one.
They have provided a straightforward instruction manual following the steps you can install and start your first bee colony with less difficulty. The materials used to produce this box are durable and bulky. You can carry it without much trouble.
If you are a professional beekeeper, you are going to love this classy and stylish beehive as it offers more space for managing your larger size colony very effectively.
Pros
- Natural wooden beehive
- Telescoping rooftop
- Easy to assemble and operate
Cons
- You have to buy frames separately
Official Flow Hive Classic Cedar 6 Frame- Langstroth Style Beehive
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The Equipment selection for any task is half the job. Likewise for beekeeping, you need to choose the best beehive that offers everything from colonizing to honey extraction. The official flow hive classic cedar can fulfill these requirements to start your beekeeping with the proper tools.
This kit has everything you need to start assembling to manage your colony continuously. It is a Langstroth type hive with six deep frames.
Thanks to its patented flow technology that helps you automatically extract honey from the honeycomb with the help of the flow key attached in the frame. In this case, you don’t have to remove the frames disturbing the bee. This is a very effective way to collect honey.
With this flow technology, bees remain harmless, and you don’t have to bear the painful sting when collecting the nectar. Nevertheless, you should wear protective gear for additional safety. All the frames are BPA free that ensures healthy accommodation for your bees.
Safety features include bottom screen board that is designed to control the outsider pest to enter and keep the bees safe, dry and warm day after day. Other features include observation windows and a robust rooftop that has made the kit more useful in beekeeping.
Pros
- Flow technology to collect honey
- Food-grade plastic frames
- Standard Langstroth type box
- Bottom screen board
Cons
- Expensive than other beehives
Qualities That Make a Perfect Bee Hive
Beekeeping is an art that needs perfection to rip that sweet honey from the wax. However, you need to choose suitable pieces of equipment at first to make your plan come in reality. Here are some essential qualities that a beehive should have to be a perfect home for your honey makers.
Flexibility
The very first quality that a perfect beehive should have is versatility. A box that allows using various accessories such as additional supers and brood frames is an excellent choice to start with. The box should have the necessary pre-cut fittings for using extra frameworks for better management of your large colony.
Harvesting Process
Honey is the main target that encourages farmers or passionate youngsters to start beekeeping. Hence, there should be an easy way to collect honey without any damage to the bees.
A feature called flow technology is appreciable in the case of honey collection. It ensures a trouble-free honey collection without causing any disturbance or damage to the bees.
Minimal Disturbance
The honey production mainly depends on the health and mentality of bees. In this regard, the hive must offer artificial natural feel with zero disturbance and danger. Only then, the growth and production of the colony will improve.
Technology like side windows can ensure zero troubles as you don’t have to remove the lid and frames to observe the colony.
Superior Design
The design of the hive must include proper security features and a ventilation system. Bees always prefer dry and warmly condition in their hives so that hive should have the ability to serve the bees 360 days.
In this case, inner cover, telescoping lid, and bottom cover should be in good quality to make the hive a perfect one.
All those four types of design- Langstroth, Horizontal, Warre and Top Bar Hive are perfect but in various fields.
Easy Installation
A perfect beehive should offer a trouble-free installation. Beekeeping is a profession for pationate people. Many new faces are entering the industry who have little experience.
Therefore, the hive should contain an instruction manual with easy steps to assemble the hive. These should also be included with honey making instruction.
Quality Materials
It is the materials that are in the center of every task from accommodation to security for your bee colony. In this case, a beehive made with high-quality wood will provide durability and convenient accommodation by ensuring a secure and comfortable environment.
Trouble Free Transportation
Beehives need to move from one place to another due to seasonal variation. Therefore, the box should come with an easy assemble and disassemble feature that will make it easier to move.
Frequently Asked Question
What Should You Know Before Starting Beekeeping?
Ans: You can read about different types of bees. Generally, the process of making honey is the same for every type but their living standard and environment varies. On this account, you should learn them and their lifecycle along with the honey making process. to have the more sweet reward.
How Many Frames Should I Start With?
Ans: Normally, ten frames are the standard amount most people prefer to start beekeeping. However, you can also use eight frames. It will enable you to observe and learn more effectively.
What Types of Color Should I Use for Better Protection?
Ans: You should use chemical free color as it doesn’t impact on the bee’s health. Choosing color is important because it affects the bee’s behavior.
Which Season is the Best to Start Beekeeping?
Ans: You should start your apiary before summer, because bees become more productive in the summer. Bees normally become less productive in winter and consume more honey.
How Much Honey Can a Single Hive Produce in a Year?
Ans: It depends on the weather, nature, and size of the colony but the average production of a single hive is around 20 to 60 pounds per year.
Conclusion
Dealing with bees is a continuous process for both beginners and professionals. Therefore, you should learn to gather adequate knowledge for maintaining your colony successfully with a sweet reward.
You can gather insight from websites, magazines or form the nearest apiary where you will learn a bunch of important things on beekeeping.
Finally, buy a suitable hive and start your thrilling journey.