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The Harvest Lane Honey Beginner Beekeeper Kit is an all-in-one kit made with – you guessed it – beginners in mind. This kit comes fully assembled, painted and ready to use.
This kit is a quite affordable when you buy online rather than from a local retailer. When your shipment arrives, you may have to carry out small adjustments to the smoker and metal tops as a result of transit issues. Several corners of the metal top might get crushed and leave sharp points, making the smoker not to fit into it well. You will, therefore, require the services of pliers and a hammer for making the two accessories usable.
Hive Frames
The 10-frame version of the Langstroth hive is popular among vendors globally. In this type of hive, each of the hive body accommodates 10 frames across. It is only in the recent years that 8-frame versions have emerged and are now sold widely. But does the number of hive frames really matter when considering which hive to buy? Well, it may matter since each version of these hives have their share of advantages and disadvantages.
Fewer frames translate to lighter weight since the hive body and supers also become few. It is also important to note that parts and accessories for the 10-frame and 8-frame hives will not interchange. Therefore, one of your critical decisions to make when considering the Langstroth hive should be the number of frames.
In terms of honey production capability, both the 8-frame and 10-frame versions have unlimited potential. The modular design coupled with interchangeable hive parts allows the beekeeper to add extra medium honey supers as the bee colony continues to grow. The bigger the colony, the more the honey produced. Therefore, you need not worry about honey production capacity when considering either of the hive versions. All that will be affected is the type of accessories and parts to be used in the hive.
The number of frames used for the 8-frame and 10-frame hive boxes are not the same: for 10-frame version, it has 20 deep frames and 10 medium frames. The 8-frame on the other hand has 16 deep frames and 8 medium frames. The good thing about either version is the fact that replacement parts, add-ons, and gadgets are easily available.
You can click here to check out our rankings of the best beekeeping starter kits.
About the Harvest Lane Honey Beginner Beekeeper Kit
This starter kit is remarkable for beginners, and it comes at a good price also. Below are some of the features that accompany this product:
- The hive box has an inner cover, 1 flat top, and 1 sturdy bottom board.
- The kit is delivered with some additional beekeeping equipment and accessories such as: a hive tool, bee smoker, bee smoker pellets, and a bee brush.
- Available with the kit are 10 frames, foundation, and 1 brood box.
- In terms of product value, this makes a steal for the savvy buyer. It costs cheaper than what you would expect at the local retailer and all accessories and package when summed up makes a bigger value than what you would spend were you to build it yourself and buy the other accessories separately.
- An internal feeder is included which is a plus for the buyer.
- It is pre-assembled and ready for use therefore this takes away the stress of assembling the unit.
- It measures 20 x 26 x 14 inches.
- The item weighs 58 pounds with a shipping weight of 58 pounds.
- This starter kit is manufactured in the United States and is not eligible for international shipment.
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Pros and Cons
Pros
- The bee smoker works perfectly.
- It delivers as described by the manufacturer.
- The hive tool and bee brush work well, and bees fit in well too.
- Durable and sturdy accessories.
- It is easy to use as it does not require assembly.
- It has a manufacturer’s warranty.
Cons
- Quality control issues.
- The solid bottom board may not impress most people.
Further Thoughts
The Harvest Lane Honey Beginner Beekeeper Kit may have a name that implies the unit is meant for beginners. However, this is misleading to some extent. I find this starter kit a great fit for all skill levels including the professional. Other buyers also echo similar sentiments. The hive box interior is spacious enough to harbor a productive bee colony and its exterior well-constructed to withstand all elements of nature. You need not worry about weather changes; neither should you worry about hive pests and predators when you have this starter kit. One the downside, it does suffer from some quality control issues.
Some of its strong points include: affordability, exceptional quality, additional beekeeping accessories, internal feeder, pre-assembled unit, and durable box and accessories. However, the kit does suffer from serious quality control and durability issues.
Conclusion
Make sure that you perform a dry-fit test with additional boxes you purchase for ensuring that they make good contact. Make sure that you have put all the pieces to check before buying the bees to make sure that your kit is operational. It is important to check this product well because you might encounter poor construction that might lead to you losing out on the amount of honey held in the hive. The manufacturer, Harvest Lane Honey, is always available for providing the required support and maintenance information.
Do you own the Harvest Lane Honey Beginner Beekeeper Kit? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think of it.
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I purchased a plastic in hive feeder, I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED, the quality of the feeder really sucks, no instructions, the ladder doesn’t fit well together at all, ladder doesn’t fit fit the cap, when fitting the ladder into the cap the ladder gets twisted with the ladder sticking up about 1/8 to a 1/4 inch with no idea how far the ladder should be protruding through the top of the cap, this is my first purchase of your products, if the rest of your are products are like this plastic in hive feeder feeding-102, I probably won’t be back,… Read more »
Hello, we are sorry you had that experience. Please contact Harvest Lane Honey and ask for a refund or an exchange.
The frames are not made as well as others. The outside edge of the frames are not cut inward 1/3 of the way down so the bees will propolus them together making them hard to get out, it also makes the bees have to go to the top or bottom of the frame to go to the other side. I will be fixing my spare boxes with a router.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I purchased the complete 10 frame deep kit on sale from Tractor Supply. The bottom board was only 1/2″ across the opening and the reducer sat exposed. Plus the design of the bottom board was not reversable nor was it painted. The frames that came with the kit were unwaxed and the bees would not use them.
I also purchased the same 10 frame components to make a complete kit from Mann Lake and the bees are taking to it very well.
Atleast I only paid half price for the Harvest Lane kit from Tractor Supply!
It does seem this kit needs to go through some better quality control. Very inconsistent.
I purchased through them and the products worked great! The quality was great and clean. I had other problems with other peoples equipment due to it breaking, or had a ugly green color to it. I like the minimalist look to it I definitely would 10/10 recommend:)
Glad to hear that!