The Basic Components of the Honey Bee Hive
The honey bee hive consists of several boxes that are named after their colony use versus simply the size.
The most common naming convention among beginning beekeepers is simply a brood box and a super. The brood box is the box where the queen lays her eggs (the “brood”) and the super box is where the remaining worker bees place the honey stores. So, you may also hear them called honey supers.
The more experience beekeepers tend to use the size and function in their names, so you may a “deep box” or “deep brood box”, which refers to the box as before where the queen lays her eggs.
Super boxes for the Langstroth hive come in 3 sizes:
- shallow ask known as
- medium also known as an Illinois Super
- or the no longer commonly use Wisconsin Super
Then we have top and bottom boards that also come in different variations:
Top boards with inner and outer covers, used mostly up north and Migratory Top boards more commonly used in Florida since we don’t have a huge temperature differential that causes condensation inside the hive.
Bottom boards can be solid or screened. The screened bottom board is known to be used in the control of the varroa destructor mite.
Then we have frames and sometimes we have foundation.
To be placed on the Waiting List for 2020 NUCs, you must pay the $50 non-refundable deposit. Deliveries of NUCs are arranged on a first come, first deposit paid basis. To see your Waiting List position, you may check here. The Waiting List is ordered by Order # from your deposit.
5-frame NUCs are available in the following options:
5-frame NUC with frames - no box (BYOBox) $160 ea
Bring your 5-frame or 10-frame deep Langstroth-style hive body box on your prearranged date/time and we will swap the frames of into your box following a brief hive inspection. NUC frames will include: 5 deep wooden Langstroth-style frames, drawn out wax comb on Plasticell foundation, honey, nectar pollen, brood and a mated queen.
5-frame NUC with frames & EZ-NUC box $180 ea
NUC with 5-frames in a corrogated plastic EZ-NUC box (pictured). NUC will include: 1 EZ-NUC box, 5 deep wooden Langstroth-style frames, drawn out wax comb on Plasticell foundation, honey, nectar pollen, brood and a mated queen.
5-frame NUC with frames & custom wooden box $220 ea
NUC with 5-frames in a custom wooden box. NUC will include: painted custom wooden 5-frame Langstroth-style deep hive body box, 5 deep wooden Langstroth-style frames, drawn out wax comb on Plasticell foundation, honey, nectar pollen, brood and a mated queen.
Other options:
Learn more: How to Select a Bee Smoker
