Fully Assembled Starter Hives
Beehive components
Beekeepers often refer to the components of a beehive as woodenware. Not all hives are made of wood, but most still are. The basic design has not changed dramatically (excepting for dimensions) since Langstroth developed his beehive in the 1850s.
A hive consists of a bottom board, hive body, frames, foundation, inner cover, and outer cover (telescoping lid). The frames with foundation are placed in the body for the bees to store honey, pollen and for the queen to lay eggs. Supers with frames and foundation are added for the bees to store surplus honey and pollen. The honey from the supers may be extracted from the frames or left in the beeswax comb to harvest as Cut Comb.
Back Forty Bees fully assembled starter hives
This combination starter set includes all the woodenware you need for your first year of beekeeping and the honey bees. All honey bee packages purchased as part of our starter kit include the queen marked for free!
Our kit is made up of 8-frame, medium hive bodies, allowing you to interchange between brood hive bodies and supers seamlessly. In addition, these 8-frame hive body is lighter than the 11-frame or deep hive bodies, making it much more beekeeper friendly (a full box of honey weighs a lot)!
This starter set includes:
Delivery of your starter kit
We strongly encourage new beekeepers to get their hives in place before the bees arrive in April. After you place your order we will contact you to arrange transfer of the starter hive to you. Please note, we do not ship the starter hives. Once you have your hive all setup and ready, you will be able to place your bees in them after you pick them up at either our Williamsburg or Moyock pickup site.
Beekeepers often refer to the components of a beehive as woodenware. Not all hives are made of wood, but most still are. The basic design has not changed dramatically (excepting for dimensions) since Langstroth developed his beehive in the 1850s.
A hive consists of a bottom board, hive body, frames, foundation, inner cover, and outer cover (telescoping lid). The frames with foundation are placed in the body for the bees to store honey, pollen and for the queen to lay eggs. Supers with frames and foundation are added for the bees to store surplus honey and pollen. The honey from the supers may be extracted from the frames or left in the beeswax comb to harvest as Cut Comb.
Back Forty Bees fully assembled starter hives
This combination starter set includes all the woodenware you need for your first year of beekeeping and the honey bees. All honey bee packages purchased as part of our starter kit include the queen marked for free!
Our kit is made up of 8-frame, medium hive bodies, allowing you to interchange between brood hive bodies and supers seamlessly. In addition, these 8-frame hive body is lighter than the 11-frame or deep hive bodies, making it much more beekeeper friendly (a full box of honey weighs a lot)!
This starter set includes:
- 1 package of honey bees with a marked queen
- Assembled:
- Telescoping outer cover
- Inner cover
- Solid bottom board
- 3 medium boxes (supers/brood boxes)
- 24 frames
- Bonus! - Wax foundation is included in our starter hive, something most other suppliers do not include (uninstalled, must be stored flat)
Delivery of your starter kit
We strongly encourage new beekeepers to get their hives in place before the bees arrive in April. After you place your order we will contact you to arrange transfer of the starter hive to you. Please note, we do not ship the starter hives. Once you have your hive all setup and ready, you will be able to place your bees in them after you pick them up at either our Williamsburg or Moyock pickup site.