BeeMate Packaging and Shipping

When I designed the BeeMate back in 2004, I planned to sell them online and ship them as a kit to be assembled much like Ikea and other furniture manufacturers do. Unless customers are picking up their BeeMate at your shop, you’ll need to determine how to protect it from handling damage that can result from shipping. Ultimately, it’s up to you as the manufacturer to determine the most efficient and cost-effective way to do this for your situation.

I have given this a lot of thought, so I’m sharing my ideas on ways that you can package the BeeMate for distribution directly into the hands of your customers, wholesaling to beekeeping supply stores or shipping via courier or postal service.

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Ready-to-assemble (RTA) BeeMate Kits

As I mentioned on the BeeMate Manufacturing page, gearing your production to RTA assembly is the most efficient way to go. You can keep an inventory of units packed (as shown in the pictures below) and ready to distribute through multiple channels:

sell directly out the shop door to pick-up customers (no additional packaging needed)

assemble BeeMates as needed for customers at a premium price (assume approx. 1/2 hr for assembly)

delivery (by you) to pre-order customers at beekeeper meetings, etc, or to beekeeping supply stores in your area (with minimal additional packaging)

shipping via courier or postal service (with additional protective packaging)

Kit Components

2 – Pre-assembled frame rests
2 – Crossbars
2 – Cross supports
4 – Legs
2 – Leg braces
4 – 5/16″ (8mm) carriage bolts/washers/wingnuts
4 – pieces 1/4″ (6.3mm) hardware cloth
24 – 1 1/2″(38mm) #8 wood screws

Assembly tools: Screwdriver and wood glue (recommended)

Packaging Suggestions

Shop Pickup

Rather than packaging every unit as if it’s going to be shipped through a courier or mail service you can save a lot of time and expense by starting with minimal packaging and add the degree of protection that suits the delivery method. In the pictures, you can see I used strapping tape to hold the pieces together which should be sufficient for shop storage. Alternatively, you could use the stretch plastic wrap (like food wrap) that they wrap pallets with for shipping. If you need to assemble one for a customer, it’s simple to grab one of these units and put it together in the shop without wasting packaging materials. This level of wrapping should also be enough for customers purchasing BeeMates at your shop.

Personal Delivery

In situations where you’re delivering them yourself to beekeeping supply stores or to beekeeper meetings, you might want to wrap the whole unit with plastic stretch wrap to offer a bit more protection from scratches, and other handling wear and tear. You could make up a simple label sheet with a photo & logo and print it on a sheet of plain paper. Wrap the label over the gap that holds the hardware and assembly instructions and wrap the stretch wrap around the whole unit. This would be great for store or table displays so people can see how it works – and purchase one before they leave.

Shipping by a Third Party

The one thing you can be sure of is that nobody is going to be more careful than you when handling BeeMates so you’ll need to beef up the protection for shipping. Cardboard and bubble wrap would both be good options for this. Flat cardboard wrapped around the unit, folded over the ends and secured with packing tape offers the best protection. You should be able to source large cardboard boxes from a local hardware or appliance store, that can be stored flat and cut as needed.

Another option would be to wrap the unit in bubble wrap. It comes on rolls in various sizes and would be more expensive to use than cardboard. Something about the thickness of foil insulation should offer enough protection.

Note on dimensions:

One aspect of shipping you should investigate is how shippers determine the cost. It could be a combination of weight and package size. With this in mind, a BeeMate in protective cardboard is going to exceed 48″ in length (about 48 1/2″ actual) which could bump up the shipping cost per unit. If this is an issue, the simplest solution would be to cut 1/4″ or so off each end of the pre-assembled 48″ frame rests to reduce the overall length slightly.

Assembly Instructions

I’ve provided an assembly sheet (English only) that you can print out on two sides of a single sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and tuck into the space with the hardware. If you need assembly instructions in another language, let me know and I will email you the document and unlabeled images so you can create a version in the language required.

Download the BeeMate Assembly Instruction Sheet (PDF)

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