Beehive Components | Sager Family Farm

This video goes through all of the parts of a beehive. This is part of our Bee-ginning Beekeeping video series, which serves as a "Beekeeping 101" to help you get started! We have lots of handy links and extra notes below, please comment if you have any questions :-)

Sager Family Farm
www.sagerfamilyfarm.com

HIVE COMPONENTS HANDOUT
This handout has a diagram and measurements of a Langstroth Beehive.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kWO7...

*** The following links are NOT paid promotions. These links are to the equipment I buy and use for my own beehives.

BOTTOM BOARD

Wooden Bottom Board - these are the cheapest bottom boards, I usually use these in areas where I have problems with robbing and ants.

IPM Screened Bottom Board - most of my hives use these bottom boards. They come in handy when I am checking if a Varroa Mite treatment worked (I measure the number of mites that drop off after treatment) or cooling the hive in hot weather. The bees are excellent at ventilating the hive and don't need this, but with a screened bottom board more bees can be out foraging rather than at home fanning.
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ipm-scree...

HIVE BODIES / BOXES / SUPERS

These are the boxes that compose the body of the beehive.

Brood Chambers - these are the boxes at the bottom of the hive that contain babies. You can use 2 Deep boxes or 3 Medium boxes to make up your brood nest.

Supers - these are the boxes at the top of the hive that hold honey. You SHOULD NOT use Deeps for this (they are HEAVY when filled with honey, about 90 pounds). You will want to have 2 mediums for your supers, some people also use shallows, but I prefer mediums (and they are most common).

Complete Hive - for your total hive you should have 2 deeps and 2 mediums OR 5 mediums (3 for brood, 2 for honey).

FRAMES

I use Rite Cell foundation because it is very easy to use and it holds up well when I am harvesting honey (so I can reuse the comb).
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/6-1-4-nat...

You can also use wax foundation, this needs to be held in place with wires so that it doesn't sag. You can get it with wires embedded to make it easier to set up.

You can also go without any foundation, but I recommend against this for new beekeepers. There are some techniques for having the bees build perfect comb, but it requires more hands-on management, and the bees can build a messy puzzle if it goes wrong.

COVER

I mostly use Garden Covers because they are so pretty - mine are from Brushy Mountain (now defunct beekeeping company), but they are sold elsewhere too.

I also use telescoping covers, these require an inner cover (as do the garden covers). It is handy to have an inner cover because you can easily add a feeder or additional entrances. The cover itself can be flipped upside down to use as a tray when inspecting hives as well - so this is a very handy type of cover.