USDA data · compiled 2026-08-22 # What Beekeeping Equipment Costs What a hive, a box of frames and a beginner's kit cost, read from fourteen years of supplier catalogs Figures come from the catalogs themselves, following the same part numbers from one edition to the next. Switch to **Scientific** above to see how many observations each claim rests on, the exact values, and the statistics behind them. 01 · What a hive costs ## A beginner's hive kit cost $252 in 2010 and $413 in 2024 Dadant sells a complete starter kit as a single part number, so the price is the seller's own bundle rather than a total somebody assembled. That kit ran $252 in 2010 and $412.95 in 2024. After inflation the rise is 14%. The steeper climb is in bare woodenware: a hive bought flat and nailed together at home went from $112 to $222, which is 37% in today's money and the largest real increase of anything we priced. Beginner's complete kit, 2010 to 2024 $252 to $412.95 +14% after inflation ### What a hive costs, 2010 to 2024 Prices in today's money, so the editions are directly comparable. Each line is a fixed list of parts, so the change is the price moving and not the contents. What this data can’t tell you **Every part, every year** Each basket is a fixed list of parts. A year only gets a price when the catalog prices all of them, so the change is the price moving and not the contents. **One supplier's list** These are Dadant's catalog prices before any discount or delivery, not an average across the market. 02 · Catalog index ## Dadant's catalog prices rose 76% over fourteen years, 22% after inflation Catalog part numbers stay the same for decades, so the same item can be followed edition to edition and the change read directly. Across every part number Dadant priced in both of two editions, the catalog stands at 176 in 2024 against 100 in 2010. In today's money that is 122, so equipment outpaced general inflation by about a fifth over the period. Dadant catalog index, 2010 = 100 176 nominal, 122 real 2024, matched part numbers only ### How catalog prices moved, each house on its own first edition Each line starts at 100 in that supplier's earliest catalog we hold. Following the same part numbers edition to edition, so a catalog getting longer does not read as a price rise. What this data can’t tell you **Same item, edition to edition** The index follows items that appear in both catalogs, so a catalog getting longer never reads as a price rise. 03 · Three suppliers ## Three suppliers priced 2011 independently and all three rose Dadant, Mann Lake and Brushy Mountain all published catalogs in 2010 and again in 2011, which gives the same year priced three times by three houses that set prices independently. On 1,623 matched part numbers Dadant rose 2.8%, Brushy Mountain 5.5% and Mann Lake 9.5%. Weighting each house equally puts the year at 5.9%. 2010 to 2011, three suppliers +5.9% Spread of 6.7 points between houses ### 2010 to 2011, priced by three houses independently The same year, read from three different suppliers' catalogs. Weighting each house equally puts the year at 5.9%. What this data can’t tell you **Each house counts once** The combined figure gives each supplier equal weight, so the biggest catalog does not decide the answer. 04 · Common questions ## Straight answers on what equipment costs ### How much does it cost to start a beehive? A complete beginner's kit from Dadant, carrying the hive, frames, foundation, smoker, hive tool and veil, cost $412.95 in the 2024 catalog against $252 in 2010. Buying the woodenware alone and nailing it together at home brings the hive itself to about $222. ### Has beekeeping equipment got more expensive? Yes, and faster than prices generally. Following the same Dadant part numbers from 2010 to 2024, the catalog stands at 176 against 100, and at 122 in today's money. Bare woodenware rose most: an unassembled hive is up 37% after inflation. ### What does a hive body or a box of frames cost? In Dadant's 2024 catalog an assembled painted hive with frames, cover and bottom board was $169.95, a 6-5/8 honey super with frames $74.95, and ten assembled deep frames with foundation $46.50. The same ten frames were $26 in 2010. This page is about what the woodenware costs. For the bees that go in it, [see what queens, nucs and packages cost](/swarmed-data/bee-and-honey-prices). ## Where these numbers come from - USDA NASS QuickStats, the annual Bee and Honey Inquiry survey, 1987 to 2025. - USDA NASS annual Honey reports, 2019 to 2026 releases, for queen, package, and nuc prices. - USDA AMS National Honey Report, 89 issues from November 2018 to August 2025. - US Beekeeping Survey and its Bee Informed Partnership predecessor, for colony loss. One gap runs through all of it. USDA surveys operations with five or more colonies that count as a farm under its own definition, and publishes queen, package and nuc prices as a single national average with no state or regional breakdown anywhere in official US data. Hobby beekeepers are outside the survey entirely. That is the gap the seller panel above fills in, at very small scale.