1) Paint the outside of the bee hives, bottom boards, and telescope covers with two coats of a good quality Latex paint to protect the hive from the deteriorating effects of the sun.

2) Installation of the frame rests: Look carefully at the inside of the hive body ends. Underneath the rabbet (the indentation that the frames sit on) you will see a slot. This slot is about 1/2 inch under the rabbet and runs the whole length of the rabbet. Now, push the SHORT SIDE of the hard plastic frame rest into the slot so that the long side sticks up above the rabbet. This gives you the proper bee space and makes it easy to remove the frames for inspection.

3) There is no inner cover with these hives. There is no reason you cannot use a regular luan or wooden inner cover with it if you so choose. We also sell a luan inner cover sized for this hive. Whether you use an inner cover or not will depend on the method you use to feed the bees. Be sure you always place a stone on top of the hive to prevent the telescope top from blowing off.