A beehive is a physical structure that houses a bee colony. A bee colony consist of one queen, hundreds of drones, and thousands of worker bees. In the wild, bee colonies create their homes, generally known as nests. While many manmade beehives are made of wood, plastic ones are also available.

There are several popular, readily available bee hives boxes in the market. These require different management styles. The choice depends on the beekeeper. It is good to look at all beehives available before settling on the equipment. If you aim to produce honey for profit, you may require a design allowing easy harvest. 

Similar Articles you may like to read –
What should I put under my bee hives?
Where to put the beehive? Bee Hive plan and Placement.
Things to consider Can you keep just one bee hive?
Which is better, 8 frame or 10 frame beehive?

What is the best bee hive design?

The Langstroth hive is the most common beehive structure used by beekeepers today. This iconic hive was designed by Lorenzo Langstroth and consists of boxes ( supers) that are stacked  on top of each other.  There are deep supers (brood boxes) and honey supers. The removable frames in the compartments make it easy to inspect your hive and maximise honey yield. There are modern honey extractors that are specially designed for Langstroth hives. A Langsroth has any combination of three-size boxes. These include deep, mediums or shallows. 

Parts of a Langstroth Hive

Outer Cover

The outer cover keeps the beehive dry from the rain. It mimics the roof of a house. It overlaps the inner cover and hangs down around its edges. 

Inner Cover

The inner cover is positioned under the outer cover and above the top hive box. It prevents the frames from sticking to the outer cover as well as provides insulation to the hive. At times it features an opening which provides an upper entrance/ exit for bees. 

Honey Super

Shallow super/ Honey super is where bees store surplus honey. 

Queen Excluder

A Queen excluder restrains the queen in the brood chamber. It prevents her lays eggs in the honey collection supers. 

Frames

Removable frames are fitted into the hive boxes. They come in different sizes to fit in the different sizes of supers. Any langsroth box supports either 8 or 10 frames. They are hung vertically within each box. 

Foundation

Vertically-oriented plane bees build comb. Most beekeepers use sheets of beeswax foundation on the frames to help the honey bees build straight comb. 

Brood Chamber

Also known as a brood box or deep super. This box contains larger frames than the honey super. This is where the queen lays eggs and raises bees for the next generation. 

Bottom Board

This is the base where the weight of the beehive rests. They are available as solid bottoms or with a screened bottom. A Bottom hive also features an entrance where bees come and go. 

Entrance Reducer

A small piece of wood that blocks a portion of the entrance to reduce the area that bees have to defend. It is instrumental before the colony becomes fully established. Offers protection from robber bees. 

Advantages of Using a Langstroth Hive

• The use of boxes allows a beekeeper to easily expand the hive by adding space.
• Drawn comb can be reused by bees after honey extraction. This means the bees do not have to devote the energy and resources to rebuild their comb. 
• Supplies are easy to find, and prices are reasonable
• It is an excellent structure for maximum honey production.  
• It can be customised with lots of options. 
• The hive has interchangeable parts so you can get supplies from multiple manufacturers. 
• It is easy to maintain. 

More articles you may like to read –
What smell do bees hate?
What Color Bees Cannot Recognize?
What is the best color for bee boxes?
What colors should you avoid around bees?

Cons

• The boxes can be heavy when full of honey which can be challenging for some beekeepers. 
• Inspections on a Langstroth hive can be cumbersome. A thorough inspection involves a lot of lifting to remove and replace the boxes. 
• Working on the hive causes more disruption to the hive.