This kit is the most popular combination of boxes for the backyard beekeeper. The combination of a deep box and a medium box provides a good mix of maximizing space and providing enough space for a colony to grow without the boxes being too heavy to lift for the beekeeper.
This cypress Langstroth hive is a complete kit with the woodenware needed to start your first beehive. The beekeeping supplies in this kit include:
1 - 8 Frame Cypress Telescoping Cover
1 - 8- Frame Inner cover
1 - 8- Frame Cypress screened bottom board
1 - 8- Frame Cypress Medium boxes
8 - grooved top, grooved bottom medium frames
8 - sheets of double-waxed plastic medium foundation
8 - grooved top, grooved bottom deep frames
8 - sheets of double-waxed plastic deep foundation
1 - 8- Frame Wooden Entrance Reducer
You can opt to purchase your beekeeper starter kit unassembled, assembled, or painted. On all of our kits, the boxes and frames are the only parts that would need any assembling. When choosing the assembled option, we will assemble your boxes and frames/foundations with staples and wood glue so you can be assured they will never fall apart. If choosing assembled and painted, we will assemble your equipment, coat it with a white primer, and finish with a layer of premium-quality, UV-resistant white paint on the outside of the equipment.
We have multiple sizes and types of beekeeping starter kits, and it can be a little confusing. Because of this, we wrote a few posts to help. Should I Start With All Medium or Deep Boxes? Should I Start With 8 or 10 Frame Equipment?
When looking for beekeeping kits for sale, it can be hard to distinguish the quality online. We have been selling this beekeeping starter kit since 2016, which is very popular and of excellent quality. The wood we use is a durable, 7/8-inch thick, smooth cypress board that is naturally rot-resistant and will last decades even without paint. Besides our cypress wood, we choose to use precision cut frames and foundation with double the beeswax on it as our competition, so you and your bees will be happy with our equipment.
Each of our kits is designed to be the space where the queen can lay eggs, and the bees can store fresh honey to eat over the winter. This kit does not include the additional honey boxes or honey supers (What is a Honey Super?) needed for the bees to store excess honey for the beekeeper to harvest from. It is possible to need 1 more medium box and frames during the first year, especially if you start the colony with a nucleus hive or live in a sub-tropical climate.
We recommend getting one more medium box with frames, just in case. If not used during year one, it will be needed during year two. If using a queen excluder, it would be placed above the boxes in this kit and under the additional boxes added to the hive.
Be sure to check out our Master Series on getting started in beekeeping.
Beekeeping for Beginners - Is Beekeeping Right For Me? - What Beekeeping Equipment Do I Need? - Where Do I Get Bees? - How To Learn To Keep Bees
If you would like to customize the kit, like opting for foundationless frames, wax foundation or a solid bottom board instead of a screened one, we recommend building your kit and adding separate pieces to the cart. All the pieces of the beekeeping starter kits can be purchased separately at the same price as they are in the kit. This way, you can get the bee equipment you want. You can use the list of products above as a guide.
Some starter kits include lots of other beekeeping supplies that are not necessary. Since we started having beekeeping kits for sale, we chose to keep the equipment simple and not oversell. There are other pieces of equipment you will need like a hive tool, bee suit or bee jacket, leather gloves, a nucleus hive or package of bees (Package or Nucleus Hive, Which is Better?), a bee smoker, and a way to feed your bees. We have all of these products for sale, and they can be purchased separately through our website or in our store.
There are other tools available like a bee brush, queen excluder, frame holder, and more that are optional. It's not necessary to purchase everything you need, but there are essentials that every beekeeper uses.
Purchase 8 Frame Hive parts separately to customize your hives.
Be sure to read our blog on Should I Start With All Medium Or Deep Boxes.
Watch our YouTube video to choose your first beehive setup. Should you use 8 or 10 frames? Deep or medium boxes?
