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.
Beetle sheets are an all-natural, chemical free way to trap small hive beetles. Place one to two sheets per brood chamber where beetles congregate. Re-apply sheets the next time working these infested colonies and watch them disappear naturally. 12 sheets.
Color may vary - white or blue.
Ship wt. 1 lbs.
These have become a popular ways to deal with small hive beetles in a natural way without any pesticides or chemicals. These disposable towels trap beetles inside the hive as they walk around the hive without hurting the bees.
These Small Hive Beetle Towels create a trap for beetles by snaring the adult beetles in the fabric. The fibers of the towels get hooked onto the beetle's legs and keep them from getting away.
These can be placed inside the hive year-round to catch the beetles, but they work best when beetles are most active. This is during the spring, summer, and fall. If left on during the winter, the bees will likely propolise the towels and make them difficult to remove.
These Small Hive Beetle Towels work best when they are roughed up before being placed into the hive. They can be torn into 1-2 inch strips and placed on the edges of the frames where the top bars rest on the sides of the box. This is where the beetles are driven by the beetles, and they will get caught up on the towel. When the towel is full of adult beetles, the towel can be discarded and replaced.
Other options:
Learn more: How to Select a Bee Smoker
