This setup is great and allows savings and adaptability. Very thoughtful that they have several holes to screw into box otherwise you wouldn’t be able to center screws and likely split the wood. I marked and pre drilled holes to avoid splitting. Be mindful of the boxes you use since most are not true square and you will have to chose gap in front or rear. The apimaye bottom boards, feeders, and covers are superior in quality and value compared to wood and I wish apimaye boxes were less expensive. Latches can be a bit difficult to install and depending on wooden box handle cutouts position you may need to offset instead of center.

We had a large bear (about 400 lbs) come in last night. It broke through the electric fence and made quite a racket knocking over a hive and rolling it around, trying to open it up. The latches held and gave us time to chase this big guy off without frames and bees becoming scattered all over the yard, as was the case with our wood hives. We definitely appreciate the strength and convenience of our Apimaye hives!

As a starting beekeeper I was in the process of buying all the bits and pieces for a beehive. I wanted something that was going to be durable, useful, and easy to maintain. This fits that bill in a big way. Having an insulated top helps with the heat, and with all the parts being plastic it's easy to keep clean. Start at the top, insulated top, extremely durable and won't blow off with the wind. Next comes the feeders, talk about making it easy! All you do is adjust the gates, and put in either your patty or your syrup. Go to the bottom. Easily attaches to the super, and fits appropriately. The pollen trap is nifty, along with the tray for the pollen keeps it clean. Next comes the hive beetle trap. Coupled with food grade diatomaceous earth it is super easy to trap those suckers and get counts. Same thing for mites. And this stuff will not rot! All you got to do if you need to change it to different super is undo some screws and move it to a new super! Talk about smart! I don't have to replace anything because it won't go bad because it is that durable heavy duty plastic. Some traditionalists don't like new stuff, that's okay you do you I'll do me. Highly highly recommend every time I add a hive I go ahead and drop the coin, ONCE.

I've been keeping bees about 7 years now. When upgrading hives I looked to find an easier button. Hopefully these are it. Bought (2) complete hives but the (5) kits I purchased to upgrade my existing wooden boxes seems great so far. The bees seem to like them fine, and are much easier to set up and maintain. Lots of nifty options not really possible with the old style wooden set-ups. The test will come with seasons passing, but am extremely happy so far. Hopefully the bees are too>.

I have purchased the bottom boards and covers separately in the past and I am very happy to see them now as a kit. I recommend adding the latches as they allow a full latching system and make moving and carrying supers easier.