Honey Bees

Honey Bee Hives

In nature, honey bees can make a home just about anywhere. They need space to grow and store their honey, but the hive still has to be small enough to defend. In the wild, bees like to make their hives up high, 8 to 15 feet up from the ground. The combs are built a specific width apart (about 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 inch), which is called bee space. Bee space is an important consideration for modern bee hives. If the space between combs is too small, they won’t be able to access the cells. Bees also don’t like it when the space between combs is too large, and will fill it in with burr comb (also known as bridge comb or brace comb) or propolis (“bee glue”).

There are several hive styles available, but by far the most common is a Langstroth Hive. Usually there are 10 hanging frames per box, but 8 frame varieties exist too. My experience has been with using a Langstroth 10-frame hive.

The other hive styles you’ll most commonly see are Warre and Top Bar Hive. Flow Hive is an interesting variation on a Langstroth Hive.

Langstroth Hive

Vertically hanging frames inside stacked boxes.

Rectangular frames with plastic or wax foundation on which the bees draw out comb.

The most common style of hive.

Langstroth equipment is readily available.

Warre Hive

Vertically hanging frames inside stacked boxes.

Bees draw their comb from a wooden wedge (top bar) suspended across the top of a cavity.

The most “natural” style of hive.

Similar to how bees build their hives in the wild.

Top Bar Hive

Horizontally hanging frames inside one long box.

Bees draw their comb from a wooden wedge (top bar) suspended across the top of a cavity.

Less expensive than other styles.

Not suited for overwintering in cold climates.

Check local laws if you are considering another way of keeping bees.

It is a legal requirement that hives can be disassembled for inspection. So things like straw skeps are not allowed.

Anatomy of a Langstroth Hive

Telescoping Outer Cover

Inner Cover

2nd Super with frames hanging inside (Honey Super, Medium Box).
This is where surplus honey is stored.

1st Super with frames hanging inside (Honey Super, Medium Box).
This is where surplus honey is stored.

Queen Excluder – to keep the queen down in the hive bodies and prevent brood in the honey supers. I don’t personally use a queen excluder and haven’t had any issues.

2nd Hive Body with frames (also called Deep Box, Brood Box, Brood Chamber). This is where the queen is laying eggs and where the brood is reared.

1st Hive Body with frames (also called Deep Box, Brood Box, Brood Chamber). This is where the queen is laying eggs and where the brood is reared.

Base Board. Can be solid or screened.

Entrance Reducer – Has a smaller opening and a larger opening. Completely removed during the summer.

Stand – Just something to keep the hive directly off the ground. You can buy a fancy stand or just use a wooden pallet or cinder blocks.

Anatomy of a Langstroth Frame

Movable wooden frames hang inside the hive bodies and supers. There are deep frames for hive bodies and medium frames for honey supers.

Frames are filled with some type of foundation for the bees to build their comb onto. The foundation can be plastic (which is what I use) or made of natural beeswax suspended with wires (which is labor-intensive).

With easily movable and removable frames, it’s easy to inspect a Langstroth hive. Beekeepers can even take frames with food or brood from a strong hive and swap them into a weak hive.