The Langstroth Hive
The Langstroth Hive created in 1852 by Rev; Lorenzo Langstroth is the most popular hive throughout the world.
Langstroth was the first to formulate a different moveable-frame hive that better utilized the "bee space" partly by implementing a top-opening hive. (The "bee space" is a bee-sized gap left between the combs and the hive cover, large enough for bee movement but too small for the bees to create a new comb there.) With his new design, the cover board could be opened without unduly disturbing the bees. It also allowed the apiarist to remove individual combs and to easily examine the condition of the hive to implement corrective measures should they be needed. The construction further allowed for the removal of honey without disturbing the comb, which then allowed the bees re-use of the comb.
THE BOTTOM BOARD
The bottom board is the floor of the beehive. It consists of several rails that serve as a frame around a solid piece of wood, and it protects the colony from damp ground.
ENTRANCE REDUCER
An entrance reducer is a cleat that limits bee access to the hive and controls ventilation and temperature during cooler months.
DEEP HIVE BODY or DEEP SUPER
The deep hive bodies are essentially boxes that contain frames of comb. For a Langstroth hive, you typically build two deep hive bodies to stack on top of each other. In this box the bees store pollen, honey and it is here the queen lays her eggs. At no time honey is to be harvested from this box.
HONEY SUPER
Beekeepers use honey supers to collect surplus honey. That’s your honey — the honey that you can harvest from your bees. The honey that’s in the deep hive body must be left for the bees. Supers are identical in design to the deep hive bodies, and you build and assemble them in a similar manner. But the depth of the supers is more shallow.
Honey supers typically come in two popular sizes: shallow (which usually measure 5 3/4 inches high) and medium (which usually measure 6 5/8 inches high). Medium supers are sometimes referred to as Illinois supers because they were originally developed by Dadant & Sons, Inc., which is located in Illinois.
Some prefer medium supers to shallow supers and use mediums exclusively. Why? The mediums hold more honey and yet are still light enough that you can handle them fairly easily when packed with golden goodness (medium supers weigh in at around 50 to 55 pounds when packed full).
However, many beekeepers use shallow supers because they’re just that much lighter when filled with honey (they weigh around 35 to 40 pounds when packed full). The choice is yours.
The bees use the lower deep as the nursery or brood chamber, to raise thousands of baby bees. They use the upper deep as the pantry or food chamber, where they store most of the honey and pollen for their use.
FRAMES
Some hives use removable frames (for example, nuc, observation, British National, and Langstroth). The bees build their honeycomb onto the frames. Because the frames are removable from the hive, you can easily inspect, manipulate, and manage the colony.
For the nuc, observation, and Langstroth hives, the wooden frames contain a single sheet of beeswax foundation. Frames typically come in three basic sizes: deep, shallow, and medium, corresponding to deep hive bodies and shallow or medium honey supers.
You can certainly purchase frames from a beekeeping supply vendor. Or you can find out how to build your own Langstroth-style frames.
INNER COVER
The inner cover of the hive resembles a shallow tray (with a ventilation hole in the center). You might also like to cut a notch in one of the short lengths of the frame. This is an extra ventilation source, positioned to the front of the hive. You place the inner cover on the hive with the tray side facing up.
OUTER COVER
The outer cover protects the bees from the elements. Like the roof on your house, you can ensure that it’s waterproof and also extend the life of the wood by covering the top with a weather-proof material (aluminium flashing, asphalt tiles, cedar shingles, and so on).