Beekeeping Equipment

There are many different types of beehives. But the most common type, by far, is the Langstroth hive. Starting from the top, the major components of a Langstroth hive are:

• Outer cover - The outer cover sits on top of the hive structure. Its purpose is to close off the top of the hive to protect the bees from exposure to the elements like sun, rain, other bees etc. It also helps to prevent heat loss during cold weather.
• Inner cover - The inner cover helps to keep the outer cover from getting stuck to the underlying equipment. It can also be configured to provide an alternate entrance to the hive. Use of an inner cover is optional.
• Honey supers - "Supers" are boxes that provide a support structure for the hive internals which primarily consist of frames (more on these later). They are called supers because they are superimposed on one another (stacked up on each other). This is where bees build comb, store honey and pollen and raise new bees. There are two sizes: shallow and medium. The difference between the two are how tall they are.
• Frames - Frames fit inside the supers and are sized to fit the type of super they are placed in. The bees build wax honeycomb in the frames for honey and pollen storage as well as for a place to raise new bees. Frames are designed to be removed from the supers for inspection.
• Queen excluder - A queen excluder does what its name implies. It excludes the queen from gaining access to parts of the hive. It is optional and normally used only during times of honey production to keep the queen from laying eggs in the honey supers.;
• Deep super - A deep super is the tallest type of super and is usually where the bees raise new bees, called brood. It is often called a brood box.
• Bottom board - the bottom board forms the floor of the hive and forms the entrance to the hive. The bottom board can be made of solid wood or screen.
• Stand - The stand supports the rest of the hive and keeps the rest of the components from ground contact and can act as sort of a landing strip for bees entering and exiting from the hive. There are many kinds of stands ranging from a simple wooden platform, concrete blocks, steel or plastic structures. The design and construction is limited only by the imagination of the beekeeper.

There are many other types of specialty equipment, but these are the primary ones.

Building your own equipment can be very enjoyable and rewarding. But before you start, one needs to ask the question “Why build your own equipment?” If your answer is to save money, you should reconsider.  Unless you already have all the woodworking tools, a lot of free time and access to cheap lumber, you can buy ready-to-assemble equipment almost as cheap as you can build it yourself. This is especially true if you have to buy your lumber at one of the big box stores.

On the other hand, if you enjoy woodworking and just insist on “doing it myself,” it is a way to extend your beekeeping hobby into the winter months. If you are an aspiring woodworker, the techniques you learn while making your equipment will help with other woodworking projects.  

So, if you still insist on building your own stuff, there are lots and lots of resources on the internet showing you how to do it.  Rather than reinvent the wheel, here are some links to a few good resources.

• Bee Source – a great source of plans for all sorts of beekeeping equipment
• In The Beekeepers Workshop – plans and videos for all sorts of stuff