We recently purchased an observation National hive from Hyde Hives. This is an amazing product and with great craftsmanship. The wooden hive was so well make. Every detail carefully considered. The latches secure everything down really tightly and there’s way for the need to escape. This is a big hit at all honey shows abs school visits where both kids and adult simply crowd around to get a good look. We highly recommend this product.
Fast turnaround from order to delivery. The bees love it.
They are fantastically built and made to last with a lot of thought put into the workmanship. It's stylish and sturdy with legs at a solid angle giving it a low centre of gravity. It's heavy so it is unlikely to be blown over in the wind. Having clear crown boards is not only stylish, it's also great for a quick inspection with disturbing the bees. It means that you can lift the roof in winter and check to see if any feed needs topping up without chilling the bees. Having gas struts keeps the roof open and not risk having it fall down on you. The customer service was excellent.
A beautifully crafted hive ready for some very lucky spring bees, obviously made by people who know and respect bees and how they like to live. The hive looks stylish and sturdy, delivered and sited efficiently and courteously. Perfect customer service, thank you Hyde hives
The attention for detail to suit a UK bee keeper are just right. I saw this style of hive in Spain 3yrs ago and have wanted to try it since. Thanks Hyde hives team.
Impressed with the design and workmanship of the short hive. A few small shakes and chips on two of the legs, which I easily sorted and would have appreciated on ordering a ‘heads up’ that I needed to ask for my pine hive to be oiled before delivery. But these small points apart I’m very pleased with the hiveand friendly service.
Everything I have bought from Hyde Hives including my long hive has been brilliant!
Absolutely stunning hive. We purchased the long hive, so large enough for two colonies, one each end. The hives are made using locally sourced cedar wood which is milled on site, and lovingly built by hand; sustainability at its core. We have oak landing boards, and gas struts that make opening the roof a cinch even for the kids. The quality of the build is outstanding, I have to say I feel these long hives are worth £900+, considerably more than they are currently retailing for! Especially if you compare them to the cost of other hives. Absolutely beautifully made. Delivered by the team to your door as well. You couldn't ask for more. We have been on holiday so only adding our first colony in a couple of days' time, but can't wait to experience horizontal hive beekeeping for the first time. Massive thanks to Matt & his team for a first class experience, not something anyone should take for granted these days.
Arrived last weekend and cannot wait to transfer my bees… so beautifully made and just makes sense - perfect. Great, expert customer service so far too - thank you!
The Layens that Hyde Hives made is better than i expected. The build quality is excellent and delivery was on time and the communication with the company was brilliant. They where very helpfull and very curtieus. and great for the environment as they plant a tree for every hive that has been made . This the first time i will use a Layens and looking forward probably next season .I will hopefully purchase another hive next year . 5 star rating Thanks.
I bought 2 Langstroth long hives, (1 for me & another for a friend as I'm tending to her bees) having seen reviews & talked to the owners, who are the most helpful people you would hope to meet.
The hive has, for me, so many pluses. In no particular order....
Well made and substantial. I won't have the problem of it being blown over in strong winds. I've had 2 "normal" hives blown over in my time.
No supers to lift off from great heights. (Beekeepers curse)
It holds 2 colonies, comes with 2 queen excluders so the surplus honey is safe from queen laying in it.
Plenty of brood space.
It's easy to teach from as there's space for someone alongside you. My daughter is learning and my grandson (5) is keen to help.
The lid acts as an extra barrier from the bees while you are working with them.
Black Mountian Honey has done some excellent videos on the linghive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7MkEQkmOao
I made one alteration to the hive in that I blocked up the entrances which are at each end of the hive and drilled 3 25mm holes in the back and screwed beespace portals on the inside. The bees introduced were in and out in seconds. Hyde hives know what these are if anyone is interested or confused by what I've put down here.
Enjoy the future of bee keeping
We are very pleased with our long hive. It is a beautiful piece of equipment that looks highly practical. We don’t have bees in it as yet (I hope soon), but it is still good to show new beekeepers alternative ways to keep bees. One of our association members thought he’d have to stop beekeeping due to arthritis of the elbows, but has decided to switch to a long hive instead.
The Layens hive arrived quicker than expected, great service and delivery and is very well constructed. I have managed to treat it with Danish oil (between downpours of rain) and now am looking forward to finding it some new residents. Thank you Matt, Dean and delivery driver.
These are my first hives so I can't give too much insight, but these are just beautiful. As someone who has done woodworking in the past, I find the construction quality of both of the hives I received to be absolutely brilliant. Lid opens very easily but not in a way that it'll just blow open, the gas struts are a brilliant idea. Plenty of space in the lid cavity for any insulation you might want to add too, or even to store some hive tools etc. Wood quality is excellent, uniform in smoothness, thickness and colour, inside and out. Legs are very sturdy and well secured. Entrance reducers are very useful. Frames are completely unwarped and well made, feel very sturdy. Varroa boards can be stiff to remove or put back in but easily fixed with some sandpaper on the problem side, and the tightness reduces drafts and space for unwanted guests to get in. Construction and delivery were much faster than I anticipated, which is always a pleasant surprise! All in all, not a bad thing to say about the hives or Hyde Hives as a company. Matt gave me some initial advice before I purchased the hives because as a newbie I wasn't entirely sure what would be the best type of hive for me, and I think the Layens was absolutely a great choice. Nice and deep without a huge footprint (although obviously still larger than any vertical hive) and even though my hives are bee-less at the moment, I look forward to working with the Layens hive over the coming years!
Made sense to have the oiling done pre-delivery as it meant we could put bees in pretty well straightaway.
Looks amazing and well built. Bees installed yesterday, can’t wait to see how they settle in!
Loving the clear pvc top boards and way less lifting! Inspections are so much less intrusive. This is my first but I am sure not my last!
Excellent, well made crown board with plexiglass, delivered quickly.
Excellent product.
Very well made
Smells of newly cut wood
Sure Bees will be happy when they move in.
Thank you Guys
If only everyone was this helpful. Great product, great communication and delivery couldn't be more helpful.
Absolutely fantastic customer service and top quality product! Will definitely be buying more and will be our go-to supplier for the future! Highly recommended! We love our top bar hive, thank you so much ☺️
Top quality hive. Excellent workmanship and friendly service. Will definitely be getting another.
Definitely worth getting done, especially with the weather we've had recently.
Nowhere dry to do it myself, as much as my wife loves the hive I don't think I would have got away with doing it in the front room...