Beehive Components: Wooden vs. Plastic

Reader Contribution by Jennifer Ford
Published on April 8, 2015
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Wooden or plastic? Beekeepers tend to have some really strong opinions on hive bodies and frames when it comes to the material they use. My husband and I have tried out both wood and plastic so I thought I would share a little about what we have experienced.

Hive Bodies and Supers

For the most part, you can purchase equipment for beehives made out of two types of material – polystyrene or traditional wood. When we first started beekeeping, my husband and I decided to try the polystyrene boxes. When more experienced beekeepers found out we were trying them, we heard a lot of comments along the lines of “better you than me”. But to tell you the truth, we have been pretty happy with them. They were easy to assemble – just push them together with a little glue, and let them dry. Give them a few coats of primer and paint, and they were ready to go. They have held up well, and we are still using the original boxes that we purchased 7 years ago. An advantage of polystyrene is that it is thick and well insulated – it helps to keep the bees cooler during the hot days of summer, and warmer in the bone chilling cold of winter. We have not had to wrap our polystyrene hives for winter as we do with our wooden hives. One disadvantage is that they are slightly more expensive than wooden hives, at least at our local dealer.

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