Bee Smart Designs Ultimate Hive Cover Review

Posted on April 24, 2012, 10:28 pm by Chris


The new "Ultimate Hive Cover" telescoping cover from Bee Smart Designs is a great addition to any apiary. It's rugged and requires no assembly, making it perfect for both the professional beekeeper and the backyard beekeeper looking for an easy to use, pre-built telescoping hive cover.



The Ultimate Hive Cover is lightweight and easy to maneuver making it easy to put on and pull off of hives, especially hard to reach hives stacked tall with supers.

With the all plastic construction there are no components that will rust, crack or rot like wooden covers may be susceptible to over many years of use.

To test out these new covers, I replaced one of my homemade covers with a Bee Smart Ultimate Hive Cover to get a feel for their craftsmanship, durability and value.



One of the benefits I noticed right away was the domed top and flared sides of the cover. 

Bee Smart Designs Cover

The combination of a raised top and flared sides allows rainwater to quickly drain off of the top of the cover, and away from the sides of the hive. 



In the picture below, you can see the covers are engineered to be slightly larger than a typical 10 frame Langstroth hive. The slightly over-sized design allows me to place the cover onto the hive quickly and effortlessly having it seat down securely over the hive.



The underside of the cover shouldn't be overlooked either. It's designed with plenty of recessed areas along the inside edges, which provide both excellent grip even when wearing gloves and also good ventilation.

The cover also boasts built-in insulating properties by use of air space within the construction of the cover itself. Speaking of construction, the Ultimate Hive Covers are made with recycled materials so you can feel good about using them while protecting the environment.
 


What's that you ask? How about the price? The Bee Smart Ultimate Hive Cover, used by master beekeepers and hobbyists alike are currently priced under $25 and the manufacturer is currently offering free shipping.

These telescoping covers require no assembly, no painting and are sure to provide years worth of maintenance free use in the apiary.  What more could you ask for!




Disclaimer - Bee Smart Designs provided a free "Ultimate Hive Cover" for reviewing purposes. If you're interested, continue reading on how you can have your product reviewed and posted on this blog.




Comments For This Post: (6) | Post Your Comments! Hide The Comment Form
Dave Schoell says...
Date:   April 26, 2012, 9:03 am

What a great looking cover.  My company manufactures this product and we are proud to be associated with this company and love to see its working better in application.


mr.beebuzz says...
Date:   September 25, 2012, 6:01 pm

I was woundering  about condsation in the winter .does this new design take care of it? on this new outer cover you can email me at mr.beebuzz@comcast.net

 


 



westernwilson says...
Date:   January 28, 2013, 11:35 am

I switched to an Ultimate after my first telescoping cover failed to stand up to the rainy Pacific Northwest summers...the wood and tin roof swelled and rotted in 6 weeks! The Ultimate was light and durable. I loved it! As for condensation issues, ANY cover will hold in condensation. In the winter I put on a top box filled with wood shavings to prevent condensation that forms from dripping onto the bees. I also made a ventilated gabled roof just for winter use...it is too heavy and awkard for the beekeeping season.


Frenchie says...
Date:   February 4, 2014, 3:48 pm

I have a number of these and they are great for the rain. Also, during the summer, the additional dead air pocket helps, I think. 
If you need to move the hives, though, you will still need something like a migratory cover because the plastic edge could bust if you cinch it hard.
Also, we had a terrible wind this past summer, and I found 2 of these roofs had flown off the hive. Thank goodness, it was not raining. I use them with a stone on them now. Certainly, having something that does not need fixing up or painting and repainting is a great advantage, cost wise, even if they are a couple of bucks more that the conventional wood ones.


Dave says...
Date:   August 15, 2014, 7:03 am

I put these on 4 of my hives with ratchet straps to hold them on. I don't trust stones. I found that one of the hives now has an ant farm inside the top cover. The ants apparently discovered the tiny ventilation holes in the underside of the cover and made themselves at home inside. Since I put a screened inner cover underneath the top cover, the bees cannot get to the ants to discourage them, so only time will tell whether it will be a problem for the hive to have an ant colony living inside it. I do like the fact that I can easily lift the cover with one hand and the fact that it provides for some ventilation in the 100+ degree Texas heat we have here.


Jeff says...
Date:   September 1, 2014, 12:13 am

I'm concerned about small hive beetle access through the ventilation spaces of the ultimate hive cover.  Does anyone have any input or insight on this?  Especially from southern states... ?



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