You can easily inspect and work on the frames because they’re removable. These are where the bees build their wax and honey and can be removed from the super. Honey superframes are panels of wood or plastic that are inserted vertically into the honey super. You’ll only need one honey super during your first season of beekeeping but can add two or three for the upcoming seasons. It is normally easiest to work with shallow or medium-sized honey supers, otherwise it can become too heavy to lift the box full of honey. Supers are identical in design to the deep hive bodies but are slightly shallower. You need to leave the honey in the deep hive bodies for the bees to survive. This is a large box placed on top of the deep super, with the queen excluder sandwiched between the two. This is where the surplus honey is collected. This is a flat rack that has small holes for the worker bees to use, but which are too small for the queen to use. The queen bee isn’t involved with the actual production of honey, so you place the queen excluder between the brood and honey production. You will need 8-10 deep superframes, depending on the size of your deep super. The frames hold foundation, which is the wax and wire base that the bees use to start their own wax building. These are the frames that are individually inserted into the deep super. In cold weather locations, a bee colony can survive with only one deep hive body You can have two deep hive bodies (one for the brood or family, one for the food) and then continue with the honey supers. Each deep super comes with either 8 or 10 frames. This is the place where the eggs are laid and the brood is raised. The deep super is the large box that the bees build their hive into. A slatted rack is an optional addition to your box, but it is well worth adding if you’re able. It is layered between the bottom board and the brood chamber, to provide ventilation, make access of the brood chamber easier, and prevent the bees from forming ladder comb. This is a flat panel of wood that is crossed by other small strips of wood, forming a flat rack. During the summer, especially at the height of nectar flow, you can remove it to maximize honey production. They are used more frequently during the winter months when other animals, such as mice, will try to enter the hive for warmth. Your bees will come and go from an entrance in the bottom board.Īn entrance reducer is a small piece of wood used to adjust the size of the hive’s entrance and controls ventilation and temperature during cooler months. The bottom board can either be solid or screened, the only difference being that screened bottom boards are better at keeping out pests and have an added bit of ventilation. This is the flat piece of wood that serves as the base for your beehive. A small table or bench built to fit your honey bee box will work, if you’re looking for a home-made substitution. While you don’t need a technical ‘hive stand’, you will need a stand of sorts to prop your super off the ground. This is the stand that lifts the hive off the ground, and may have an angled landing board for the bees. The bees should be well protected from elements of nature such as rain, cold, and temperature changes. The bee hive box chosen should have a design that provides your bees with the right temperature and aeration. It should also be easy to add more frames when the bees have fully utilized available frames.Ī good one should make it easy to harvest the honey.Īn ideal beehive makes it easy to work on the hive with little disturbance of the bees.Ĭhoose a hive that inhibits drone production and maximizes the production of honey and brood. However, lots of people use the word “super” for any of the boxes.Ĭhoosing Bee Hive Boxes – what to consider?īefore you commit your hard-earned cash to the purchase of a bee box, consider these:ĭoes the hive allow the use of standardized equipment and accessories? Having one that allows you to share hive accessories such as brood and honey frames can be a plus. It usually refers to the boxes in which honey is stored. The lower hive body is separated from the supers above by an excluder.įirst, a note about supers: The word “super” is short for “superstructure” and it refers to a box that goes on top of the regular colony. Good quality bee box will last longer, and your bees will love itĪ honey bee box is made up of a hive stand, bottom board, hive bodies (brooder), smaller boxes called honey supers, and a cover. Finding the right bee box can be hard work, but in the end, it is worth it. Today’s bee boxes are designed to keep the bee colony healthy and to make it easy for a beekeeper to take out honey without disturbing bees too much. A Bee Box is a craftable Structure that uses Bees to accumulate Honey that can be harvested.
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