OZ ARMOUR Painted Hive — Mesh Bottom Board

Everything Your First Colony Needs, Right Out of the Box

Starting beekeeping is one of those things where the setup matters as much as anything else. A hive that arrives incomplete, poorly assembled, or made from materials that won't last past the second season is a frustrating and expensive way to begin. This one is different. The OZ ARMOUR Three-Level Assembled and Painted Beehive arrives fully built, painted, and ready to receive bees — with every component your colony needs already included.

Three full-depth boxes give your colony genuine room to grow from day one. The ventilated lid regulates temperature through Australian summers. The metallic queen excluder keeps your honey supers clean. And importantly, this hive comes with a mesh bottom board with beetle trap as standard — an upgrade not included with all of our other hive models. The mesh bottom board has also been upgraded to wax-dipped construction, meaning it needs no painting and will outlast any painted alternative. At $259.99, available in 8 or 10-frame configurations with an optional wax-embedded frame set, this is a complete hive built to a higher standard from the ground up.

22mm NZ Pine — Built to Last Australian Conditions

The boxes, lid, and frame components are all made from 22mm New Zealand pine — 3mm thicker than the standard 19mm used in imported hives. That extra thickness means better insulation against temperature swings, greater resistance to warping and cracking through wet winters and dry summers, and a hive that holds its structural integrity for 15 to 20 years with basic care rather than starting to degrade after a few seasons.

The exterior is painted white — UV-resistant and weather-resistant — which reflects heat during summer and protects the timber from moisture year-round. The interior is left unpainted natural pine, which is exactly what bees prefer. They're more comfortable settling into a scent-neutral, breathable surface, and new colonies typically establish faster in unpainted interiors.

Mesh Bottom Board Included — Not All Our Hives Have This

This is worth understanding clearly before you compare hives. Most standard beehives — including several others in our range — come with a solid bottom board. This hive includes a mesh bottom board with beetle trap as standard, which is a meaningful difference for both pest control and hive ventilation.

A solid bottom board does its job, but it gives small hive beetles and other pests a flat surface to hide and breed on. A mesh bottom board removes that entirely. Bees naturally herd beetles toward the floor of the hive, and the mesh lets them fall straight through into the removable tray below — where they can't get back in. Fill the tray with diatomaceous earth and you have a passive, chemical-free beetle management system that works continuously without any effort from you.

The mesh also improves ventilation through the base of the hive, reducing moisture buildup that can cause mould, unhealthy brood conditions, and timber deterioration over time. For Australian beekeepers dealing with humid coastal conditions or warm inland summers, that airflow makes a genuine difference to how healthy and comfortable the colony stays through the season.

Wax-Dipped Bottom Board — No Painting Required

On top of having a mesh bottom board at all, this one has been upgraded to wax-dipped construction. Standard painted bottom boards look fine when new, but Australian conditions work on painted timber over time. The paint eventually cracks, moisture gets in, and you're either repainting or replacing sooner than you'd like.

Wax dipping is a completely different treatment. The board is submerged in a hot bath of natural beeswax that penetrates the timber fibres from the inside out, sealing the wood against moisture at the source. Once treated, it needs nothing else — no painting, no recoating, no seasonal maintenance. It simply lasts. The treatment is completely natural and bee-safe, with no chemicals or solvents involved, which means your bees are moving into a base built from materials they're naturally comfortable with.

Three Full-Depth Boxes — Room to Grow

A single-box hive limits your options quickly. Three full-depth boxes give your colony the space it needs to build out properly — a strong brood nest in the lower boxes and honey storage in the upper super — without needing to add equipment partway through the season. For a new beekeeper, having the full structure in place from the start means you're not scrambling to source additional boxes mid-season when your colony is building strongly and the foraging is good.

Metallic Queen Excluder — Clean Honey Supers

The metallic queen excluder sits between the brood boxes and the honey super, allowing worker bees to pass freely while keeping the queen in the brood area where she belongs. The result is honey supers that contain only capped honey — no brood, no eggs, no complications at harvest time. For new beekeepers especially, a well-functioning queen excluder simplifies hive management considerably and makes harvest day far more straightforward.

Ventilated Lid — Temperature Control That Matters

Bees spend significant energy regulating hive temperature, and a lid that traps heat on a 38°C Australian summer day makes that job much harder. The ventilated lid allows hot air to escape from the top of the hive, reducing the thermal load on the colony and letting bees focus their energy on foraging and honey production rather than fanning. It's a small design detail that makes a real difference to colony comfort and productivity through the warmer months.

8-Frame or 10-Frame — Which to Choose

Both configurations come with everything described above. The 10-frame is the Australian standard — maximum honey yield per box, compatible with virtually all Langstroth accessories, and the setup most beekeeping clubs and commercial operators use. The 8-frame is the lighter option — each box weighs around 4 to 6 kilograms less when full — which suits beekeepers who prefer a more manageable lift or are working in tighter spaces. Either way, this complete hive has you covered from day one.

With or Without Frames

At checkout you can choose the hive without frames if you already have frames in stock, or add a full set of wax-embedded frames ready for the bees to start drawing comb immediately. The wax-embedded option saves a significant amount of time — wiring and embedding frames is a multi-hour job that requires specific tools and some practice. For most new beekeepers and anyone who values convenience, the frames-included option is the better choice.

Specifications

• Brand: OZ ARMOUR — trusted globally since 2018
• Configuration: 3 x full-depth boxes, fully assembled and painted white
• Timber: 22mm New Zealand pine — knot-free, dimensionally stable
• Exterior: UV-resistant, weather-resistant white paint
• Interior: Unpainted natural NZ pine — bee-friendly
• Bottom board: Mesh bottom board with beetle trap — included as standard (not available on all hive models)
• Bottom board treatment: Wax-dipped — no painting required, natural beeswax, maintenance-free
• Beetle control: Removable tray — use with diatomaceous earth
• Lid: Ventilated telescopic lid
• Queen excluder: Metallic — included
• Frame options: Without frames OR with wax-embedded frames (choose at checkout)
• Frame count: 30 x full-depth 10-frame OR 24 x full-depth 8-frame
• Sizes: 8-frame or 10-frame Langstroth
• Price: $259.99
• Lifespan: 15-20+ years with basic care
• Rating: 4.9/5 stars