Honey Keeper Beehive 20 Frame Complete Box Kit (10 Deep and 10 Medium) with Metal Roof for Langstroth Beekeeping

Okay where to start? I have read all of the reviews for this hive and realized some people are either confused, or just don't understand wood joinery. I see people complaining the miter joints don't line up correctly. These are not miter joints, they are dove tail joints and they are supposed to be extremely tight, hence the need for a rubber mallet to set them correctly. See how they kinda' look like little dove tails? Unfortunately our Chinese friends aren't really that great at cutting these joints and some of them are actually looser then they should be. I'm guessing this is why they sent along a bag of nails which you should NEVER need when working with properly cut dove tail joints. So let's jump right in. The fit of 95% of the dove tail joints were very good, the other five percent are just too loose and you will need some sort of fastener. Speaking of fasteners they send you a bag of nails . . . throw those in the trash. Any wood working project worth doing requires screws, and this is a project which requires screws. Remember this is going to be outdoors year round and variations in temperature will cause the nails to pop, and back right out of their holes. Eventually the whole thing will loosen up and get wobbly. Screws solve this problem forever. The directions tell you to drill pilot holes, if you're going to bother drilling pilot holes you should put screws in them NOT nails. Also you only need screws on one side of the joints, always drill through the wide side of the dove tail not the thin side. That being said, some of the parts come pre-assembled, the base, the inside lid, and the outside lid. Again our Chinese friends cheaped out and used staples to fasten these together. Fortunately their cheapness works to our advantage. On all the pre-assembled parts anywhere you see a staple is a perfect place to drill a pilot hole and sink a screw. Yeah I know you're saying 'damn that seems like a lot of work" but trust me when you can take a cheaply made product like this and turn it into a solid product it's worth the time. The last thing I want to address is the top cover. It's well made (it needs screws) however I did notice they soldered the corners to make it water tight but they didn't get the very top of the corner (see the pics), I'll probably hit them with a dot of solder just to close up the hole. All in all, its a good kit provided you are willing to put in the work to make it a great kit. I gave it a five because I was able to work with it and turn it into a great kit. If you don't want to go to all the trouble, then spend the extra few bucks and buy an American made kit. Hope this review helps. Oh and I used Power-Pro Outdoor Wood Screws 8 x 1-3/4

I am so happy with this hive. It came in perfect condition and delivered quickly via Fedex. It is of excellent quality! The supers are cedar and the frames pine. I dont know why one review said the boxes were pine? Anyone who has ever had a hamster or rabbit knows the smell of cedar shavings. The boxes are definitely ceda! Everything went together quickly and easily like building Legos. 🥰 The only negative is that the plastic honeycomb inserts for the frames DO NOT come coated with wax. I read somewhere they did so I didn't order separate wax. You need to buy your wax separate and apply a thin coating so the bees can get started. Will definitely be purchasing more.

After some quality issues with Mann Lake, we've decided to find better boxes for our apiary. We have odered about over 4 of these by now (4 at this time, about to order a couple more). These are great. The best boxes I have bought today. Assembly is a breeze. I used a light air stapler and rubber mallet. Both tools should be in a beekeepers tool box/shed (stapler makes assembly and repairs on a damaged or cracked hive a breeze, Ryobi makes a battery powered aircompressor and stapler for a decent price, i dont even need to move the bees for repairs anymore). Dovetail joints are tight and hold really well. The frames assembled quick and easy. It will about two hours at most to assemble one of these, less then an hour with two experienced beekeepers. Took to some basic outside paint really well, and looked good when finished. And wired a couple of frames instead of backing them, the wood held the wire tight with no give from the fasteners, you don't want the wire to slip and a few pounds of honey filled cimb crashing out. One word of advice, don't use the supplied nails, or if you do, follow the directions and predrilled the holes, the wood will split if you send them right in. This is the same for all hive construction. I live in a very dry are and use staples as they are least likely to split wood, next closest would be finish nails. Otherwise you should predrill any holes for screws or nails. I use bees wax, but non toxic wood glue to use for any gaps is likely the only other thing needed.

It was a descent deal at $159. I saw the price jump up to $299 shortly after I bought mine, and now they are down to $167 or so. The dovetail joints are nice. Fit is good on boxes, frames, foundations, expanding cover and bottom board. Queen extruder is what you'd expect. Overall. I was happy with them, except some of the wood (one panel on a box and one entrance reducer) had some major termite damage. I did not use enclosed nails for assembly. I used wood glue and a nail gun for the boxes, and glue and a staple gun for the frames. It took me an hour to assemble two complete hives and all 40 frames. At $160 or less, they are well worth the money. I feel that at a price above that, you'd be better off buying elsewhere. I will say the guys in my Beek club were impressed with the product at the $159 each price I paid. I've had my girls in them for 12 days now, and they seem happy. I put two coats of paint where painting is needed, and 3 coats on the open grain dovetail ends. The first attached pic is of one of the entrance reducers. You can see the termite damage. The second is the hives set up. Just the super with a hive top feeder for now. My daughter painted the one on the left. I would definitely buy them again at $160 or less.

I never mind a little project, with a little wood glue and a mallet these pieces came together easily. It's easier to build this on a hard flooring. And after an exterior coat of paint (I wanted my hive to blend in with my succulents) I let it dry and air out for a few days then transferred the old frames (full of bees) into their new boxes with the new frames to the side ready for the girls to work on. I was really satisfied with the simplicity of it all. all pieces cut well from good light wood. The black frame inserts are just plastic, I will be putting a little base wax on them so my girls have to work a little less.

I have 7 of these so far and they are of good quality. Concerning some of these negative reviews: I am not using a drill and there are no splits, aside from the occasional split at the bottom of a frame. Once the comb is established that will not be a weight bearing location as the comb will be hanging/supported by top of the frame, so it does not matter as long as it still supports the foundation. If it doesn't, stuff some wood glue in it. Also, these are unwaxed foundations, so those who are getting burr and cross combs are just the people who are not waxing. It's cheaper and more effective to wax yourself, so getting these unwaxed foundations can be a positive thing. I do recommend skipping the box nails on the top and bottom teeth. They are unnecessary and can cause problematic splits. As for the review stating the medium is actually a shallow: don't worry it's not. These are 6 5/8" aka: medium. All in all, this is a very nice hive.

This is the sixth hive that I have assembled from various manufacturers. One of the most affordable sets I’ve come across. Standard Langstroth dimensions, reasonable quality wood. Plywood bottom board if that matters to you (I prefer solid wood; seems more resistant to moisture). My biggest gripe is that the dovetail joints did not fit on 7/8 corners for both deep and medium boxes. Spacing seem to be off by up to 1/8 inch. Required a fair amount of chiseling and malleting to make everything fit, which was aggravating. In the end, there were some gaps and voids that will inevitably allow water to penetrate. Entrance spacer was *very* rough, lots of splinters. Fortunately, the gaudy “honey keeper” logo was easy to sand off. Overall, she’ll do, and it would be hard to find anything cheaper. But for an extra 20 bucks I would rather buy the Creworks hive kit that has much easier assembly and better build quality, fit, and finish and a solid wood bottom board to boot. 3/5 stars.

I assembled it easily, but this is the 4th hive I have asselmbled. I predrill holes in the nailhead (where the head of the nail rests) boards to prevent splitting the wood. I learned this the hard way several years ago, don't skip this step.. I also predrilled the frames. The joints were all done neatly. I always reinforce all contact points with Titebond III glue. The only thing I didn't realize when ordering was that the foundations are unwaxed. Luckily I had enough wax to do it with. FYI it takes 1 lb of wax to do 10 deep and 10 medium foundations in case you need to buy wax. If you have never waxed foundations before, go get yourself one the the cheap 3 inch paintbrushes from homedepot that are like $2.