*Editing my original review*
Initially I wanted to put this hive through a full season to give an honest review. We are just finishing the second season and I can say that I have grown very fond of these hives. I have since ordered more and while I also own Langstroth hives which are great, I much prefer the Warre method and hive style. If you are a beginner beekeeper and have no idea what I'm talking about, I will briefly explain. Many different hive designs exist. The most common by far is the Langstroth style hive which is the rectangular hive, with frames and typically a beeswax foundation with a comb pattern for the bees to follow. The Warre hive is a far less common hive style but has a loyal following. It's considered a more "natural" method of beekeeping as it mimics how bees build hives in the wild inside the cavity of a hollow tree, adding new boxes to the bottom as population grows. This is thought to create a less stressful environment for the bees, along with the Warre hive's other features of natural temp/humidity control, foundationless top bars and the ability to attach comb to the walls of the hive box. In my experience this has been the case, the bees in my Warre hives are very chill compared to my Langstroth hives and other hives I inspect.
The Warre method differs in that the hive is meant to be opened up not nearly as much, and I highly recommend picking up a book on the Warre hive. Not that this means you can neglect the hive, you should still check the hive regularly to clean the bottom board, peek in the windows and make sure they have enough space. In the first season, last year my single Warre hive started from package bees filled out one box with comb and that's it. This year was the second season and that same hive filled out to six boxes high and needed a seventh box. Out of concern for the height I decided to split the hive, creating two strong Warre hives. I left most of the honey with the hives but was still able to harvest one full box and a super of comb honey. I had already given away four containers of comb honey and a few pint jars before these pictures were taken, in addition I filled several more jars after taking these photos. Pretty good harvest, I think.
For backyard beekeepers I think these hives are ideal, and the simplicity of them allows for easy honey extraction without expensive equipment. Other Warre hives I have priced out as twice the cost of these, and with these features of viewing windows, white ceder and a screened bottom board I think they are a good value. That and my success with them has made me a fan. Other people reviewing these hives saying the top bars can't support brood or honey, I can assure you they can and have pictures showing it. Each top bar full of honey weighs approximately five pounds, and with nine bars each box full weighs around 40 pounds.
So why not five stars? Some quality control issues exist. The hive is fairly durable especially after painting, but some of the manufacturing may not be flush, some gaps can exist. It's not awful, I was able to unscrew everything and put them back together and eliminate gaps when they occurred. For me this wasn't a deal breaker since other Warre hives are priced like a fine art piece. Also, expansion boxes differ slightly from the boxes that come with the hive and the top bars are not interchangeable. With a Warre hive this isn't as big of a deal since you don;t do manipulations like framed hives do, but still I think everything should be the same. But that's it, the hives hold up well and they're affordable enough to expand without breaking the bank.
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*Editing my original review*Initially I wanted to put this hive through a full season to give an honest review. We are just finishing the second season and I can say that I have grown very fond of these hives. I have since ordered more and while I also own Langstroth hives which are great, I much prefer the Warre method and hive style. If you are a beginner beekeeper and have no idea what I'm talking about, I will briefly explain. Many different hive designs exist. The most common by far is the Langstroth style hive which is the rectangular hive, with frames and typically a beeswax foundation with a comb pattern for the bees to follow. The Warre hive is a far less common hive style but has a loyal following. It's considered a more "natural" method of beekeeping as it mimics how bees build hives in the wild inside the cavity of a hollow tree, adding new boxes to the bottom as population grows. This is thought to create a less stressful environment for the bees, along with the Warre hive's other features of natural temp/humidity control, foundationless top bars and the ability to attach comb to the walls of the hive box. In my experience this has been the case, the bees in my Warre hives are very chill compared to my Langstroth hives and other hives I inspect.The Warre method differs in that the hive is meant to be opened up not nearly as much, and I highly recommend picking up a book on the Warre hive. Not that this means you can neglect the hive, you should still check the hive regularly to clean the bottom board, peek in the windows and make sure they have enough space. In the first season, last year my single Warre hive started from package bees filled out one box with comb and that's it. This year was the second season and that same hive filled out to six boxes high and needed a seventh box. Out of concern for the height I decided to split the hive, creating two strong Warre hives. I left most of the honey with the hives but was still able to harvest one full box and a super of comb honey. I had already given away four containers of comb honey and a few pint jars before these pictures were taken, in addition I filled several more jars after taking these photos. Pretty good harvest, I think.For backyard beekeepers I think these hives are ideal, and the simplicity of them allows for easy honey extraction without expensive equipment. Other Warre hives I have priced out as twice the cost of these, and with these features of viewing windows, white ceder and a screened bottom board I think they are a good value. That and my success with them has made me a fan. Other people reviewing these hives saying the top bars can't support brood or honey, I can assure you they can and have pictures showing it. Each top bar full of honey weighs approximately five pounds, and with nine bars each box full weighs around 40 pounds.So why not five stars? Some quality control issues exist. The hive is fairly durable especially after painting, but some of the manufacturing may not be flush, some gaps can exist. It's not awful, I was able to unscrew everything and put them back together and eliminate gaps when they occurred. For me this wasn't a deal breaker since other Warre hives are priced like a fine art piece. Also, expansion boxes differ slightly from the boxes that come with the hive and the top bars are not interchangeable. With a Warre hive this isn't as big of a deal since you don;t do manipulations like framed hives do, but still I think everything should be the same. But that's it, the hives hold up well and they're affordable enough to expand without breaking the bank.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2017
*Editing my original review*
Initially I wanted to put this hive through a full season to give an honest review. We are just finishing the second season and I can say that I have grown very fond of these hives. I have since ordered more and while I also own Langstroth hives which are great, I much prefer the Warre method and hive style. If you are a beginner beekeeper and have no idea what I'm talking about, I will briefly explain. Many different hive designs exist. The most common by far is the Langstroth style hive which is the rectangular hive, with frames and typically a beeswax foundation with a comb pattern for the bees to follow. The Warre hive is a far less common hive style but has a loyal following. It's considered a more "natural" method of beekeeping as it mimics how bees build hives in the wild inside the cavity of a hollow tree, adding new boxes to the bottom as population grows. This is thought to create a less stressful environment for the bees, along with the Warre hive's other features of natural temp/humidity control, foundationless top bars and the ability to attach comb to the walls of the hive box. In my experience this has been the case, the bees in my Warre hives are very chill compared to my Langstroth hives and other hives I inspect.
The Warre method differs in that the hive is meant to be opened up not nearly as much, and I highly recommend picking up a book on the Warre hive. Not that this means you can neglect the hive, you should still check the hive regularly to clean the bottom board, peek in the windows and make sure they have enough space. In the first season, last year my single Warre hive started from package bees filled out one box with comb and that's it. This year was the second season and that same hive filled out to six boxes high and needed a seventh box. Out of concern for the height I decided to split the hive, creating two strong Warre hives. I left most of the honey with the hives but was still able to harvest one full box and a super of comb honey. I had already given away four containers of comb honey and a few pint jars before these pictures were taken, in addition I filled several more jars after taking these photos. Pretty good harvest, I think.
For backyard beekeepers I think these hives are ideal, and the simplicity of them allows for easy honey extraction without expensive equipment. Other Warre hives I have priced out as twice the cost of these, and with these features of viewing windows, white ceder and a screened bottom board I think they are a good value. That and my success with them has made me a fan. Other people reviewing these hives saying the top bars can't support brood or honey, I can assure you they can and have pictures showing it. Each top bar full of honey weighs approximately five pounds, and with nine bars each box full weighs around 40 pounds.
So why not five stars? Some quality control issues exist. The hive is fairly durable especially after painting, but some of the manufacturing may not be flush, some gaps can exist. It's not awful, I was able to unscrew everything and put them back together and eliminate gaps when they occurred. For me this wasn't a deal breaker since other Warre hives are priced like a fine art piece. Also, expansion boxes differ slightly from the boxes that come with the hive and the top bars are not interchangeable. With a Warre hive this isn't as big of a deal since you don;t do manipulations like framed hives do, but still I think everything should be the same. But that's it, the hives hold up well and they're affordable enough to expand without breaking the bank.
Initially I wanted to put this hive through a full season to give an honest review. We are just finishing the second season and I can say that I have grown very fond of these hives. I have since ordered more and while I also own Langstroth hives which are great, I much prefer the Warre method and hive style. If you are a beginner beekeeper and have no idea what I'm talking about, I will briefly explain. Many different hive designs exist. The most common by far is the Langstroth style hive which is the rectangular hive, with frames and typically a beeswax foundation with a comb pattern for the bees to follow. The Warre hive is a far less common hive style but has a loyal following. It's considered a more "natural" method of beekeeping as it mimics how bees build hives in the wild inside the cavity of a hollow tree, adding new boxes to the bottom as population grows. This is thought to create a less stressful environment for the bees, along with the Warre hive's other features of natural temp/humidity control, foundationless top bars and the ability to attach comb to the walls of the hive box. In my experience this has been the case, the bees in my Warre hives are very chill compared to my Langstroth hives and other hives I inspect.
The Warre method differs in that the hive is meant to be opened up not nearly as much, and I highly recommend picking up a book on the Warre hive. Not that this means you can neglect the hive, you should still check the hive regularly to clean the bottom board, peek in the windows and make sure they have enough space. In the first season, last year my single Warre hive started from package bees filled out one box with comb and that's it. This year was the second season and that same hive filled out to six boxes high and needed a seventh box. Out of concern for the height I decided to split the hive, creating two strong Warre hives. I left most of the honey with the hives but was still able to harvest one full box and a super of comb honey. I had already given away four containers of comb honey and a few pint jars before these pictures were taken, in addition I filled several more jars after taking these photos. Pretty good harvest, I think.
For backyard beekeepers I think these hives are ideal, and the simplicity of them allows for easy honey extraction without expensive equipment. Other Warre hives I have priced out as twice the cost of these, and with these features of viewing windows, white ceder and a screened bottom board I think they are a good value. That and my success with them has made me a fan. Other people reviewing these hives saying the top bars can't support brood or honey, I can assure you they can and have pictures showing it. Each top bar full of honey weighs approximately five pounds, and with nine bars each box full weighs around 40 pounds.
So why not five stars? Some quality control issues exist. The hive is fairly durable especially after painting, but some of the manufacturing may not be flush, some gaps can exist. It's not awful, I was able to unscrew everything and put them back together and eliminate gaps when they occurred. For me this wasn't a deal breaker since other Warre hives are priced like a fine art piece. Also, expansion boxes differ slightly from the boxes that come with the hive and the top bars are not interchangeable. With a Warre hive this isn't as big of a deal since you don;t do manipulations like framed hives do, but still I think everything should be the same. But that's it, the hives hold up well and they're affordable enough to expand without breaking the bank.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
Hive #1 - I honestly thought the people complaining about craftsmanship were silly. This hive was perfect. All the pieces were carefully aligned, the hardware was clearly labeled, and it went together beautifully. I used no wood glue or special tools besides a power drill to speed up assembly. It took about 30 minutes to put together.
Hive #2 - ok, I get it. These can be shoddy! This hive was a mess. First, the landing board entrance was missing (photo 1 shows what it should look like, photo 2 shows the second hive missing this pieces). Multiple wood pegs had been snapped off inside the holes (photo 3) and the other halves were just rolling loosing the box. The measurements all seemed a little off and the boxes aren’t fully flush on corners. This still only took about 30 minutes to put together, by myself.
I was fortunate to have wood scraps and tools to make the missing landing board entrance. The missing section is large enough for mice to get into the hive and is necessary.
As for the second hive’s broken pegs and misalignments. I did use a little wood glue on the peg holes for support. Because bees create propolis which will fill in cracks and little holes and such I didn’t worry too much about joints all not aligning perfectly. We will be sure to ratchet-strap the hives down in the fall before the winds come in just to be sure tho.
The boxes are primed. This seems pretty common with any store bought beehive. We had leftover external paint from our house so we used that. I did spray paint the tops for a little more color (just for me, bees care not).
Summary: buying these is a crapshoot. You may get a perfect hive or one missing pieces. Two hives took about an hour to put together, including making the landing board piece. There is no way I could made a shopping list, gone to the hardware store and bought all the supplies, cut everything to length (including all the comb bars), pre-drilled holes, created the viewing windows, and put both hives together in an hour. Because of that I still think buying these, knowing they may need to be fixed up a bit, is more economical. (That being said I bought each of mine for $139. I saw the next day they had gone to $180. I wouldn’t have purchased them at that price to begin with.)
Craftsmanship questionable, but time saver
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
I purchased two of these hives on the same day. I’m assuming they came from different distributors since one arrived just in its box on time and the other was late and in an amazon shipping box.Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2019
Hive #1 - I honestly thought the people complaining about craftsmanship were silly. This hive was perfect. All the pieces were carefully aligned, the hardware was clearly labeled, and it went together beautifully. I used no wood glue or special tools besides a power drill to speed up assembly. It took about 30 minutes to put together.
Hive #2 - ok, I get it. These can be shoddy! This hive was a mess. First, the landing board entrance was missing (photo 1 shows what it should look like, photo 2 shows the second hive missing this pieces). Multiple wood pegs had been snapped off inside the holes (photo 3) and the other halves were just rolling loosing the box. The measurements all seemed a little off and the boxes aren’t fully flush on corners. This still only took about 30 minutes to put together, by myself.
I was fortunate to have wood scraps and tools to make the missing landing board entrance. The missing section is large enough for mice to get into the hive and is necessary.
As for the second hive’s broken pegs and misalignments. I did use a little wood glue on the peg holes for support. Because bees create propolis which will fill in cracks and little holes and such I didn’t worry too much about joints all not aligning perfectly. We will be sure to ratchet-strap the hives down in the fall before the winds come in just to be sure tho.
The boxes are primed. This seems pretty common with any store bought beehive. We had leftover external paint from our house so we used that. I did spray paint the tops for a little more color (just for me, bees care not).
Summary: buying these is a crapshoot. You may get a perfect hive or one missing pieces. Two hives took about an hour to put together, including making the landing board piece. There is no way I could made a shopping list, gone to the hardware store and bought all the supplies, cut everything to length (including all the comb bars), pre-drilled holes, created the viewing windows, and put both hives together in an hour. Because of that I still think buying these, knowing they may need to be fixed up a bit, is more economical. (That being said I bought each of mine for $139. I saw the next day they had gone to $180. I wouldn’t have purchased them at that price to begin with.)
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When I first opened the box I was unimpressed, but they actually look better and are more sturdy than I thought they’d be once g
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
When I first opened the box I was unimpressed, but they actually look better and are more sturdy than I thought they’d be once g
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
My husband and I put these hives together quite easily in about 45 minutes or so. It is not a heavy wood, but the parts are rather randomly machined, so I had to put The pieces together by seeing which ones fit best. I also added wood glue between the pieces to make it more sturdy. If you use a power screwdriver, it’s pretty easy to split the wood, so be careful not to over-tighten. The roof of one hive has a set of strips under it that the other does not have, and if not put on just exactly right, will tilt, so they are not all exactly the same. The paint does look more like primer, so we painted our with low odor paint, (low VOC). We bought two more of the expansion boxes and found them to be of similar quality.Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
This is my first year of raising bees, so my mentor came to look at the hives and told me that the entrance pieces should be removable so that the bees can more easily clean the hive out after winter, so I loosened them and the are now free-floating and if there is a die-off, the bottom can be quickly cleared by them. I’ll try to post more after the bees are installed. We get our first package in two days
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Monica
Nice hive, simple assembly, but lacks quality
Reviewed in Canada on May 4, 2018
