Bees are incredibly important to mother nature.
Did you know that ¾ of all the flowers and nearly 7 out of every 20 crops are dependent on bees to pollinate them?
At the same time, bees can be very important to you because they produce deliciously tasty honey.
You’d be surprised to learn that you can keep bees pretty much anywhere too, even in the inner cities, you just have to know what to do.
For that, you need our list of the best beekeeping starter kits for 2020 and our quick guide to picking a starter kit for beekeeping.
What Should You Look For In A Starter Kit For Beekeeping?
OK before we dive into our favorite starter kits, let’s take a look at what you need to know about buying your first beehive and equipment.
The Overall Cost
We’re all price sensitive, right?
A beekeeping starter kit often looks to be quite expensive but if you look at what’s inside – they’re usually pretty good value for money (you can compare them by simply costing out the individual items).
You should get some protective equipment, the hive, the tools for getting some honey and even some weatherproofing for when mother nature’s not interested in playing nice.
The cheapest kits tend to be really poorly made while you might save a few bucks now, when your bees die, you probably won’t be so happy about it.
Some Personal Equipment
You’re going to need a veil, a jacket, a smoker and a hive tool.
This will keep the bees of your face and upper body.
You may, if want to, also purchase a hat that keeps the bees out of your hair, in our experience most people want these to begin with.
The smoker keeps the bees out of the hive while you do maintenance and keeps the bees that do stick around calm and less likely to sting, You also probably want some gloves to start with but most pros worth without.
A Beehive (Or Two)
Without a beehive, it’s not a beekeeping kit. This is where the bees live and make honey. They will come with “frames” for the bees to make babies and honey and bottom boards as well as some sort of cover.
Extraction Equipment For Honey
You need two pieces of kit for this. A blower to encourage the bees to leave while you get the honey and a honey extractor. You will normally find these in a starter kit but you may want to buy a motor-driven extractor at a later date if you get more bees.
Some Sort Of Warranty
The longer the warranty. The better the product. It’s that simple.
Instructions – The Basics Of Beekeeping
Also, you should expect your starter kit to come with a book to teach you not just how to use it but also how to care for your bees. It sounds obvious but it’s not always.
Best Beekeeping Starter Kits
The BuildaBeehive 10 Frame Deluxe Starter Kit
With a money back warranty, you can rest assured that this has everything that you need in the box.
IT’s a little bit harder to put together than some of the other kits but it’s worth it because it’s fully expandable and will last you for years to come.
This is our top pick. Highly recommended!
You can find the BuildaBeehive 10 Frame Deluxe Starter Kit on Amazon.
The Mann Lake HK110 Basic Beekeeping Starter Kit
A very traditional bee keeping starter kit and from a very reputable brand.
There are 10 full frames inside which makes it completely ready for honey production.
The accessories are top quality and will last a long time. It’s also very easy to put together and some of the heavy lifting of other hive construction doesn’t need doing as some parts come pre-assembled.
You can find the Mann Lake HK110 Basic Beekeeping Starter Kit on Amazon.
The Goodland Bee Complete Bee Hive Kit
This is an excellent hive kit, and the hive is particularly well made. On the downside, there is no instruction manual for beginner’s in the box, so you will need to buy that separately.
You also need to buy your protective gear separately.
It’s a very durable item and we think that if you want to buy something that will last – this is a good option for your first beehive.
You can find the Goodland Bee Complete Bee Hive Kit on Amazon.
The Honeybee Headquarters Bee Hive Starter Kit
We can’t work out why there’s no honey extractor in this otherwise supremely complete set.
Oh, and nails. You need your own nails to put it together.
But everything else is there and we found the manual to be one of the best introductions to beekeeping that we’ve ever read.
The brand is very well reputed in the beekeeping world and we’re positive that you can rely on this kit to get the job done.
You can find the The Honeybee Headquarters Bee Hive Starter Kit on Amazon.
The CoolMax Bee Hive Starter Kit
You will need to source the bees separately but this is a low cost and very easy way to get started as it comes fully assembled and with everything you need to start. It’s made out of polystyrene though and it means in summer, you must paint it in UV-resistant paint, or the bees may die off.
You need to rub the frame with wax too before you introduce the bees because they may not like the plastic, otherwise.
You can find the CoolMax Bee Hive Starter Kit on Amazon.
Conclusion
Everyone should keep bees they’re so much fun and honey is so tasty and once you’ve got bees, why not try keeping more animals?
We can recommend some chickens and we have some great plans in our 12 DIY idea for chicken coops article here.
If you’d like to sell your surplus honey, then we can recommend check out our book review of The Market Gardener which can help point you in the right direction.
