Hoover HivesComplete 8-Frame Beehive Kit – Wax-Coated Fir Wood, Includes 2 Deep Brood Boxes, 1 Medium Super, Langstroth Frames & CellTech Foundations – Durable, Weather-Resistant Beekeeping Supplies

Bought this a few months ago and assembled today. It’s a well made hive with everything you’d want included. Instructions are sparse but it’s not hard to figure out. Some of the frames were crushed on the ends but still usable. Ditch the nails when assembling frames and use a narrow crown stapler instead. It’s much easier and assembly is quicker. When assembling the boxes, make sure to take a knife or scraper and clean excess was from the dovetails. That takes about an hour on this setup but makes assembly much easier and prevents splitting the wood.

This is good quality and easy to put together. It looks very nice. This is the second one I've purchased. I'll probably but another next year.

Love the hives great work you love the wax coating

review: Let me start with the review saying that this is a pretty good complete hive for the price! Yes, it's unassembled, but with a little work and patience it makes a nice hive with everything you need! I bought 2 of these within a week apart and they both came within a couple of days through UPS. The boards are dipped in wax which is great, but the excessive wax around the dovetail joints, I think is from the dipping since is seems like only one side of each board has excessive wax, probably be cause those are the sides that were up side down and the wax drip and cooled. However, I have a remedy for that in my tips. The dovetails are a plus also because they are a much tighter fit then the conventional rabbit joints. They give you plenty of sinker nails and frame nails to assemble the hive. I gave this assembly and overall 4 star and not 5 because the frame woodware is not the highest of quality like the body boards and will break if not careful!Mistakes and tips: On the first hive, I made the mistake of trying to scrape as much of the wax out of the joints as possible with a putty knife before trying to nail them together. This didn't work out well and the boards were too tight causing one board to split from pressure. My solution for my second hive was using a heat gun! Run either a heat gun on low or a hairdryer on high to loosen and melt the wax in the dovetail joints and they'll slide right together with ease, then when the wax cools it'll reseal the joints. Don't bother with wood glue, it won't stick to wax and will just bead up and run through the cracks. When nailing the boards together MAKE SURE to pre drill holes before tapping the nails in, or you will split the wood! Also, the directions show only using nails on every other dovetail, on each side of each corner, but trust me, you will have plenty of nails to do each dovetail for maximum support on each box. Just make sure to pre drill holes. I did use wood glue but only on the outside of the corners after the boxes were assembled to fill in any cracks between the joints.For the frames, if you like to wire your frames, there are no pre drilled holes for the eyelets, so you'll need to do that and purchase eyelets for your wire. Also, make sure to pre drill the holes when nailing your frames together! The frame wood isn't the best quality and you will definitely crack the wood without pre drilling holes. Make sure to use the smaller frame nails as well, the bigger nails will split the side of the frames.

Excellent quality materials and precision cuts on parts to be assembled...extra heavy coating of beeswax as well.I can't build quality boxes for what these cost...yes you need to have a little knowledge putting these together...I did replace the black metal screws for my own brass...but other than that no changes from their product at all...If you use a block of hardwood say 1x2 x 12 inches as a help to put the dovetail together it will make life easier...you want them tight...I took a heat gun and barely hit the corners after construction to melt the wax in good to the dovetail joints...fits perfect with my other hives...already bought a second for more components...mouse guard for winter nice bonus...the extra coating is worth a few more dollars

I thought these were made by the Amish. The company never said they were but by the dialog on the website, it made it seem like they were. They don’t tell you where they are made. When I received this product, stamped on the outside of the box was “Made in China”.That being said, the beehives look great. The bees seem ok in them. It does take some time to put them together. The wax coating at the joints did have some thicker places. Before putting them together, I just scraped off the excess wax. I used a rubber mallet to gently tap the joints together. After that, I screwed them together. The wood never cracked as some people had stated in their reviews. I would buy this beehive again!

Disclaimer: I haven't put bees in this hive yet. Construction was relatively easy and quick. Some of the box joints were hard to fit together because the wood is dipped in wax, but it feels super secure once connected and everything lined up correctly. Just be prepared to break a bit of a sweat constructing this hive. The look is very nice and clean and it smells great! Can't wait for the bees to move in. We ended up purchasing additional frames from the seller as well to round out some extra deep frames that we're building. Shipping on this hive and the frames we purchased from the same seller was quick they were prompt to answer questions over email.

Bought this as my first hive. From unboxing, to assembly to clean up about 2 1/2 hours even with a few distractions and breaks.A rubber mallet definitely helped. Used 2 battery drills, one with a very small bit to drill pilot hole into panel (initial hole was predrilled and countersunk, but the receiving board I didn't want to split.Had a few minor splits when building the frames and was short 1 Super Frame Side, which I can make a replacement.Very pleased with the setup, ease of assembly and value for money. Only bought 1 to start with, but plan on adding more.