These come with either Italian or Texan bees (seasonal) and choice of coatings, White Paint or Wax Dipped.

Note: This Single Deep Set setup does NOT include any extra boxes with frames to add for growth as needed. Typically extra boxes are needed in about 2 - 4 weeks, when Feeding or during a Nectar Flow (maybe sooner or later)

Each White Painted or Hot Wax Dipped set comes complete with the following:

1 - 5 Frame Nuc of Bees with Mated Queen (not marked)

1 - Telescoping Top Cover

1 - Inner Cover (not showing)

1 - 9 5/8" Deep Hive Body (aka brood box) & 3 New Frames

1 - 1.5 Gallon Frame Syrup Feeder (not filled with syrup)

1 - 3" IPM Screened Bottom Board (including debris board)

or

1 - 4" Screened Bottom Board (including debris board)

1 - Entrance Reducer (secured and closed before transport)

1 - New Mite Control Strip (hanging between middle brood frames)

Queens are not marked or clipped

Scroll down to see additional images and available pick up dates. 

Genetic option availability is dependent in part on the time of the year and what we have access to in terms of availability from our favorite out-of-state Italian queen bee suppliers. We purchase the Italian queens from reputable breeders, normally from northern California, but also from Hawaii when we want them earlier in the season than the weather in Cali allows for proper mating.
For our Texan lines, we have mating yards surrounded by hundreds of gentle drone mother donor hives to flood the DCAs (Drone Congregation Areas) with our preferred genetics. Using this practice is how we minimize the number of Africanized drones in the areas where our Texan queens go on mating flights and keep our lines from being overly aggressive. 

However, this is mainly productive during the spring here in Texas when the colonies are raising a lot of drones. The other factor is proper weather for the queen to take her mating flights to the DCAs. Some years the window of opportunity for raising queens successfully stays open longer than other years.

Coating options offer beekeepers a choice of painted or wax dipped. Hot wax dipping is not new to the beekeeping industry, but until recently it was not readily available at affordable prices, until recently. The dipped equipment is a new line we are offering as a way to provide customers with woodware with a longer life expectancy. We have not ran any field trials, but the folks that have been using wax dipped hives boast they get an additional 20+ years longer than painted equipment.

Why Choose Wax Dipped?

The equipment is made in the USA, wax dipped in a proprietary, bee friendly wax blend specifically formulated to enhance longevity of your woodenware. Woodenware is dipped at a high temperature, sterilizing the box, boiling moisture out and allowing the wax to impregnate the wood, resulting in up to 25 years of use in the field.

Not only does wax dipping offer excellent performance benefits, it provides a beautiful finish on the hive that will look great in your apiary! 

Why Chose White Paint?

As with the Wax Dipped, the equipment is made in the USA and painted in our yards by one of our staff. We use the same type and quality the pros use for painting houses, so it's meant to last several years before repainting. Of courses, like any house, a maintenance coat every few years improves the life of the wood the paint is protecting. With painted boxes, you have the option of painting what ever color suits your tastes and needs. Some folks like to have each hive a different color and/or designs painted on them.

The choice is yours to make and all the options are fine, or we would not offer them. We use a variety of all of the above in our own operation and the bees use them all the same. Note: The lighter paint colors like White, Silver, Lt. Beige and most pastel colors reflect heat and stay cooler in the summer than darker colors.

We are experimenting with the wax dipped equipment to test this option in our area to see if we get the same results as the guys in other parts of the country report.