Mann Lake Complete Hive Body Kit, Painted, Assembled, 10-Frame

Nice hive

This is a quality brood box, It is well made and comes painted and assembled. I was able to get this shipped to me using Prime for a fraction of what it would have cost to buy directly from Mann Lake. I am very happy with the overall quality and construction of this Box and the frames.

This box is built better than the ones I can get at places like Ace or Murdoch’s. Price is comparable. The frames seem like they’re exactly the same as you can get anywhere. I really like that it’s prepainted. Good value.

This is basically the same as the supers sold by this company... so I'll just cut and paste the same review. Out of the box, the paint could be described as nothing short of sloppy. It looks like it was done by a child, there were many runs, sags and drips. the paint on the top and bottom edge was not very clean... there was zero effort made to mask the edges. Overall though, the box was square and sturdy. I was pleased to discover that there was not a hint of paint smell... which the bees would dislike. The pre-assembled frames were a little out of square at times, Some with staples split out of the side... but not so bad as to impair the function. I like the way the wax is secured in the frames... It is NOT going to come loose, sag or fall out. The waxed plastic foundation is well covered, and the cells well defined. Though a bit ugly... It is ready to slap right onto the hive right out of the box. Unlike some plastic foundation... the bees readily accepted this. I expect that It will be serviceable for many years. For the price... I would buy this again.

The price of this hive body may cause new bee keepers to be hesitant when it comes to hitting that, "add to cart," button. Don't be. I've purchased three of these so far and they hold up very well. They've been through drastic temperature fluctuations and severe storms. Some other hive body's may be more aesthetic or have a special feature, but it will cost you when a product like this does the job just fine for a lot less money.