Harvest Lane Honey Beginner Beekeeper Kit

LOVE IT

I already have a few hives, but was setting up a second hive at another location and decided that this kit looked like a good value at less than half of what a local retailer is selling it at. I have several other Harvest Lane Honey hives and supplies, and I like their quality. For the price I paid on Amazon (under $70) , it would be hard to even buy the raw materials to make the pieces of this kit, much less buy the included supplies.The kit has a few faults though. 1) it includes a solid bottom board instead of a screened bottom, and most resources now advise that beginning beekeepers start out with a screened board. 2) Unlike the description which claims this kit contains 10 frames, it actually has only 9 frames but adds an internal feeder. I'm not a big fan of the internal feeder since where I am they draw ants, so I'll grab another frame from elsewhere to fill it out. 3) The hive ships "fully assembled" - meaning it literally is in a big box just as shown (with the accessories and smoker tossed in as well). Unfortunately, there is no packing material keeping the hive in place, and mine arrived needed some significant "adjustments" to the metal top and the smoker where in the course of transit several of the metal top's corners had been crushed and left sharp points, and the smoker was no longer round and it's cover wouldn't fit. A few minutes with a hammer and pliers and both are now usable.In summary, this is a good starter hive at a great price, but will need a few additions and maybe a touch of luck to be truly ready to go when the bees arrive.

Fast shipping ..acurate description.quality. Thanks