There are those who wish to be bee farmers, but many feel unsure about where to find a good bee hive kit that will get them started out right. These people should consider the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit. This kit has features and qualities that make it an excellent tool for hobby beekeepers and bee farmers who have just entered the business.
The Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit is a beehive starter kit that has the proven, famous Langstroth vertical design. Essentially, the kit is made up of boxes layered on top of one another. The beehive is accessed from the top of the kit, which makes getting the honey easier for the farmer.
The hive at the center of the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit has three chambers, each split to keep the worker bees from the queen bee. The body of the kit is mostly made up of tough soft pine which has been kiln-dried to increase its durability and resistance to the elements. Two deep hive boxes and one shallow hive box make up the body of the kit.
The deep hive boxes can house a large bee colony without the bees becoming overcrowded, and they can also hold a great supply of honey. The setup of the chambers and the hive boxes makes getting honey genuinely convenient for the bee farmer.
This beehive kit comes with two sets of frames. The first set has twenty large frames and ten small frames made of pine wood. The second set has twenty large frames and ten small frames made of black plastic. The foundations of the frames are pre-waxed. The hive has a telescoping roof at the top that covers the rest of the structure very well.
Two special features of the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit are its carefully designed queen excluder and entrance reducer. The queen excluder keeps the queen bee confined to her brooding chambers; this way she cannot lay eggs in the top chambers, which are reserved for honey.
The entrance reducer is at the bottom of the hive. It is sized just large enough for the bees, but is effective in keeping many predators and pests out. The entrance reducer is also a ventilation hole to ensure proper airflow and moderate the weather’s effect on the hive. One example of this function is that the entrance reducer can keep the hive insulated during the winter.
Two more valuable features of the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit are its bottom board and its extra inner cover. The bottom board is a base for the hive that protects it from conditions such as a wet ground. The inner cover is positioned at the top of the hive under the roof. The inner cover insulates the hive by making a space of dead air, and it also helps ventilate the hive.
This all-in-one kit comes in separate pieces. It is fairly easy to assemble the pieces and to install or remove the frames. However, the corners may require a few more nails and screws to make the hive more stable, so we recommend having some spare hardware on hand.
The Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit costs approximately $260 on Amazon. This beehive is not the cheapest beehive out there, as will be shown by the other products we reviewed, but it does have quite a few recommendable features that may make the price worthwhile for beginning bee farmers.
We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare.
This is the most expensive beehive kit we reviewed here at a bit over $250, but it is a great package for anyone serious about hobby keeping or farming.
The bee farmer can readily access the honey from the top and keep the queen bee from laying her eggs in the chambers meant for honey.
The features of this kit make it convenient to retrieve the honey, control the bees, and protect the hive from harm.
The kit’s soft pine construction makes it durable, and the structure of its chambers and hive boxes adds to the kit’s ability to hold bees and encourage productivity.
The kiln-dried pine that makes up most of the hive’s body adds to its durability, as does the bottom board that acts as a base.
- The soft pine and bottom board increase the hive’s durability
- Honey can be retrieved from the top
- The queen can be kept from laying eggs in the honey chambers
- More expensive than other products and kits
- Requires substantial assembly work
- Extra nails and screws may need to be needed for stability
KIBAGA Mason Bee House – Handmade Natural Bamboo Bee Hive – Attracts…
- BEE HIVE -Enjoy beautiful blooming flowers in your yard with the Kibaga natural bamboo bee house
- BEE HOUSE – Attract bees with your fantastic bee hive and enhance productivity of pollination
- BAMBOO BEE HOUSE – Provide a bee habitat & create a safe environment for native pollinator bees
The KIBAGA Mason Bee House is a hanging beehive designed for many bee species, including Mason bees, which are known for excellence in pollination. This hive is made of natural bamboo. It has seventy tubes, each 0.6 inches thick at the front and ends, for additional protection against the weather.
This bee house must be hung against a flat surface for support against strong winds. It is best to hang the hive in a spot where it will receive ample shelter from wind and rain. This hive can last for about two years, and it can be hung from trees, rain gutters, balconies, and overhangs.
This bee house can be hung on trees or on parts of your home that lend themselves to this. Shelter from the wind and rain may be crucial.
This hive has seventy nesting tubes that are thicker at the front and end for additional protection against the weather.
The beehive is designed in a way that makes it easy to set up. However, it is simply not very durable.
The beehive will only last for about two years, and it is best to put it in a spot where it will be sheltered from the wind and rain.
- Can be hung on trees, rain gutters, balconies, and overhangs
- Not a big investment
- Tubes designed for protection against the weather
- Will only last about two years
- Best hung in a sheltered spot
The Flow Official Hive features twelve Mason jars with lids (half of which are one-pint and the other half are one-quart sized jars) to store the honey from the bees. The bee farmer can watch the honey being stored through a viewing window. This beehive is designed for both rural and suburban backyards as well as rooftops.
This clever hive from Flow uses finger-joint construction, and it is made of Canadian Hemlock wood. Its frames have a pre-waxed plastic honeycomb foundation, and it includes a stainless steel queen excluder, ventilated inner cover, and two jar screens.
This hive can be used in backyards and on rooftops. Also, it stores the honey your bees make directly into jars!
This beehive includes a queen excluder, a ventilated inner cover, jars for storing the honey, and two ventilated jar screens.
Design Quality: 5 out of 5 Stars
This beehive is constructed with finger-joint construction and has features for ample ventilation. The queen excluder is made of durable stainless steel.
This wooden hive is sturdy, and the queen excluder that is made of stainless steel that will last for a long time.
- Can be used in backyards of various sorts and on rooftops
- Steel queen excluder
- Store honey directly into jars
- Not as cheap as the KIBAGA beehive we evaluated
- The inner cover may not adequately insulate the hive
The Popsport Langstroth Bee Hive Box Kit is designed for keeping bees in breeding facilities. It is made of wood and, like the GL3STACK kit, it has a telescoping roof. This roof has a metal cap for protection against the elements. The hive is made of first-rate fir wood, and it has twenty deep frames and ten medium frames, all made of white pine.
This Popsport box kit has a bottom board to keep insects and predators out of the hive. The kit has everything needed to build the hive, which is easy to assemble because of its finger joints.
This beehive kit is fairly easy to assemble. No heavy lifting or costly equipment is required.
This beehive kit has features that protect against the forces of nature and against insects and predators.
Design Quality: 5 out of 5 Stars
This kit is designed in a way that makes it both fairly easy to assemble and able to protect against the elements.
Durability: 5 out of 5 Stars
This hive is made of wood and has a roof with a metal top. It is fairly durable.
- Bottom board for protection against insects and predators
- Has a roof with a metal top for protection against the weather
- Fairly easy to assemble
- Lower price does indicate slightly lesser quality than the GL3STACK kit or the SummerHawk Ranch Honey Jar Hive
- Still not nearly as low in cost as the KIBAGA Mason Bee House
- Inner cover may not insulate or ventilate the hive sufficiently
What is our overall verdict on the Goodlands Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit? In this well-constructed kit, we saw both excellent features and a few shortcomings compared to other bee farming options on the market.
The GL3STACK beehive can be accessed from the top and protects against predators, insects, and bad ground conditions. When it comes to honey retrieval, it is not quite as convenient as the SummerHawk Ranch Honey Jar Hive because it does not directly store honey in jars. Also, it has two sets of frames, so it may not be as easy to assemble as the SummerHawk hive. However, it does have a queen excluder, and its inner cover both insulates and ventilates the hive.
The Goodlands Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit costs much more than the KIBAGA Mason Bee House, but it is eminently more sturdy and higher in capacity. Unlike the KIBAGA Mason Bee House, which is meant for attracting the bees as pollinators, the Goodlands Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit, which is meant for the retrieval of honey, enables the beehive to store a large amount of honey.
The Goodlands Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit does not have a metal top like the Popsport Langstroth Bee Hive, which means the top of the GL3STACK hive is not as durable. However, the body of the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit is mostly made of soft pine that has been kiln-dried to increase its durability. This means that the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit is likely plenty durable enough for its purpose.
The Goodlands Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee Hive Kit is not the cheapest beehive kit we reviewed, but it is a solid value for its specialized purpose. All in all, we gave the Goodland Bee Supply GL3STACK 3 Tier Bee HIve Kit an excellent score of four out of five stars.
Featured image by PollyDot via Pixabay.