If you’re looking for a new hobby that helps you spend more time outdoors, now is a great time to add beekeeping to your list. Typically thought of as a human’s flying foe, bees are actually a crucial part of our ecosystem and are good for both people and the environment. They are, in fact, the bee’s knees.
Bees have been in decline for years as a result of the increase in the use of pesticides and urbanization, as noted by Medical News Today. Fewer bees mean less honey and beeswax, two products that are used for several useful everyday products, including food and natural remedies. Bees also help to pollinate plants and account for helping to pollinate over 90% of the world’s top 107 crops. Bee pollination in the US alone accounts for about $15 billion in added crop value annually. Approximately one-third of all the food consumed in the U.S. comes from crops that have been pollinated by bees. So yeah, bees are important and we need more of them.
Bees are an important source of food production, which makes beekeeping not only a fun hobby but one that can have real-world benefits. For those new to beekeeping, getting involved with a local beekeeper chapter is a great way to learn from others. If you’re ready to start your own hive, there are several beekeeping kits that are helpful. Just make sure to check local regulations on hives, become versed in threats to hives in your area (i.e. mites and disease), keep safety items, like an EpiPen, nearby, and make sure you have the time necessary for weekly checks on your hive. Once you’ve purchased your beekeeping kit, it’s time to become the Queen (or King) Bee of your hive.
Related Stories
1. Little Giant 10-Frame Deluxe Beginner Hive Kit
BEST OVERALL
Most kits come with everything but the hive, but with the Little Giant 10-Frame Deluxe Beginner Hive Kit, aspiring beekeepers get everything they need to start their new hobby right away, including a fully constructed hive. The pre-assembled hive has a vented inner cover, which is good for warm and cool climates, a telescoping outer cover, and 10 wood frames, and a screen bottom board. Mites are kept at bay thanks to the use of a mite grid. Safety items like gloves and a veil are included, as well as a smoker, bee brush, and frame feeder. And since this is a kit for newbies, it also includes Beekeeping for Dummies.
2. Blisstime 10 Pcs Beekeeping Supplies Tool Kit Beekeeper Bee Smoker
EVERYTHING BUT THE HIVE
If you’ve already got a hive and need the rest of the tools necessary for beekeeping, there’s the 10-piece set from Blisstime to help round out your supplies. The kit comes with almost everything beekeepers will need to get working on their hive, including a fork tool, frame grip, brush, a smoker, and entrance feeder. This beekeeping kit does include goatskin gloves to wear for safety, but users will have to purchase a veil separately.
3. REGIVA Beekeeping Supplies
BEST SAFETY KIT
Beekeeping is a great way to start a honey or beeswax side hustle and contribute to the very important pollination of crops. It’s also a touch scary. Bees can only sting once and die shortly after. They typically only sting when provoked. Still, it happens, and keeping yourself safe is the best way to carry on with your new hobby. The Regiva Beekeeping Supplies kit includes gloves with cotton sleeves, a fencing veil and hood, and a deluxe beekeeping jacket that is available in six sizes to ensure a snug and safe fit. This beekeeping kit also includes commonly used beekeeping tools, including a smoker, smoker pellets, a brush, an uncapping knife and fork, a frame grip, a feeder, a cleaning shovel, and more.
4. Basic Beekeeping Starter Kit by Mann Lake
BEST FOR PRACTICING BEEKEEPERS
Although this kit is advertised as a starter kit, it’s actually better suited for those who are already in the bee hobby business since there’s no feeder or mite grid like in the Little Giant kit. Still, beginners and advanced beekeepers will appreciate the other high-quality items included in the kit, like the safety gloves and veil, smoker, hive tool, and fully assembled hive. Also, like the Little Giant kit, the Starter Kit by Mann Lake includes a helpful instruction book to get aspiring beekeepers started on their journey to honey.
5. Hoover Hives 8 Frame Langstroth Beehive
BEST FOR SMALL SPACES
If you don’t have a large area to set up your hive, opting for a smaller build is a good idea. Hoover makes several sizes of their high-quality hives and that includes their eight-frame Langstroth Beehive that also comes with several items needed to get aspiring beekeepers started. The beekeeping kit features leather gloves, a jacket, a reinforced veil, a smoker, and curled hive tool. As for the hive, it’s made with dovetail joints that have been dipped in 100% beeswax. The exterior of the hive is made using fir, which will last longer than pine and is less likely to warp.
6. The Original Beekeeping Starters Kit for Beekeepers
BEST BARGAIN KIT
Whether you need to add a few more pieces to a beekeeping kit you already own and simply want an affordable kit that includes the basics, The Original Beekeeping Starters Kit for Beekeepers is a quality buy. Great for pairing with a hive and safety gear, the kit comes with a smoker, uncapping fork tool, a feeder tool, frame grip, and extracting scraper for collecting honey and wax. All the products included are made from stainless steel, wood, or plastic, helping to create a long-lasting kit. Many of the tools can be stored inside each other, creating a space-saving storage option.
7. NuBee 10 Frame Starter Beehive Kit
EASY TO ASSEMBLE
The NuBee 10 Frame Starter Beehive Kit comes with a 10-frame hive to get users started quickly on their beekeeping efforts and assembly of the hive is straightforward. The hive comes with five frames, giving users the choice of adding additional frames as they progress. Since the hive is Nuc-ready, the frames can include bees from another queen. The frames and foundations are made from black food-grade plastic that has been dipped in 100% beeswax. A telescoping cover, inner cover, and solid bottom are also included. As for the tools, the beekeeping kit includes leather safety gloves, a jacket and reinforced upright veil, a smoker, and a curved hive tool.
8. BeeCastle Beekeeping Tool Set
NO SAFETY GEAR
If you’ve already purchased your safety gear and hive and need, well, everything else, the BeeCastle Beekeeping Tool Set has you covered. The nine-piece beekeeping kit comes with high-quality tools that are necessary for beekeeping, including a smoker, grip, brush, J-hook, L-hook, uncapping fork and tool, queen cage, and queen mark tool. BeeCastle includes detailed instructions for tools that require assembly and by selling the tools together in a kit, it helps to bring down the price of buying each item individually.
