I should have started with these feeders. They are expensive but I can honestly say I have never found a dead bee in the feeder. Bought my first one and then had to buy two more. My bee Keeper friends who saw mine also decided to buy some. I have one have without Apimaye and it beards vs no beard with Apimaye.

I meant hive beetles not mites. Here's the picture of my hives. I need more hives.... I got a regular, upgraded, and premier.

We started our first 2 hives using the upgrade kit and were so impressed that we now have 17 hives using the upgrade. We caught a swarm today and had to use the standard bottom board. Already ordered another upgrade kit for #18

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!