Beehive Types and Setup Guide - Choosing and Placing Your First Hive

You have the gear. Now you need a home for your bees.

Chapter 6 of Backyard Farming: Keeping Honey Bees by Kim Pezza (ISBN: 978-1-57826-453-7) covers hive types, setup, and how to actually get bees into the thing. There is more variety here than most people realize.

Natural vs. Artificial Hives

Bees do not actually need us to give them a home. In the wild, they set up in rock cavities, hollow trees, and even inside building walls. These are natural hives, and bees have been using them for millions of years.

Artificial hives are what beekeepers use. They are man-made wooden boxes designed to make it easier for both bees and humans. The bees get a safe, structured home. You get access to the honey without destroying everything.

Before modern hives, people used skeps. These were dome-shaped containers made from coiled straw. They worked, but they were not great for the bees or the beekeeper. You could not inspect the colony without tearing the whole thing apart.

The Standard Hive (Langstroth)

Most beekeepers today use some version of the standard hive. It is a stack of wooden boxes with removable parts. Here is what goes into one, from bottom to top.

Stand: The base that keeps everything off the ground. Some include a landing board where bees can touch down before entering.

Bottom board: This sits on the stand. You can choose solid boards (better for warmth in cold climates) or screened boards (better for ventilation and pest management).

Hive bodies and supers: These are the main boxes. A deep super holds 10 frames and is where the brood lives. This is basically the nursery and main living space. Honey supers sit on top and are where bees store excess honey for you to harvest.

Frames and comb: Frames slide in and out of the supers. They have wax foundation sheets that give bees a head start on building comb. This is where brood is raised and honey is stored.

Queen excluder: A grate that fits between the brood box and the honey super. The gaps are big enough for workers to pass through but too small for the queen. This keeps the queen from laying eggs in your honey storage. Nobody wants brood in their honey.

Inner cover: Goes on top of the uppermost super. It has two entrance holes. You flip it depending on the season, with one side for summer ventilation and the other for winter insulation.

Outer cover: The roof. Usually covered with galvanized metal to handle rain and weather.

Entrance reducer: A small piece of wood that narrows the hive entrance. It controls traffic flow, helps with temperature regulation, and keeps robber bees from raiding the hive.

That is a lot of parts. But once you see one assembled, it makes sense. Everything stacks and each piece has a clear purpose.

Alternative Hive Types

The standard hive is not the only option. There are a few alternatives worth knowing about.

Warre Hive

Created by a French monk named Emile Warre in the early 1900s. The big difference is that Warre hives use bars instead of full frames. You also only open the hive at harvest time, which means less disturbance for the bees.

The idea is to mimic natural conditions as closely as possible while still being able to collect honey. It is a more hands-off approach.

Delon Hive

This is basically a reconfigured Warre hive. It was designed based on the dimensions of a hollow tree, which is where bees would naturally live. The goal is the same: keep things as natural as possible.

Top Bar Hive

This might be the oldest hive concept out there. Instead of frames, you just lay bars across the top of a container. Bees build their comb hanging down from the bars in an inverted triangle shape.

Top bar hives work best in tropical and temperate climates. The big trade-off is that you cannot use an extractor with them. The comb is not supported by a frame, so you have to cut it out and crush it to get the honey. That means the bees have to rebuild comb every time.

Still, a lot of people love top bar hives for their simplicity and natural approach.

Setting Up Your Hive

Where you put your hive matters a lot. Here are the basics.

Keep it off the ground. Set your hive on cinder blocks or a purpose-built stand. This protects against moisture, pests, and ground-level predators.

Paint the outside only. A coat of exterior paint protects the wood from weather. But do not paint the inside. Bees will coat the interior with propolis on their own. That is their version of insulation and waterproofing.

Location matters. Place your hive away from roads, paths, and high-traffic areas. You do not want people walking through the bees’ flight path, and the bees do not want to be disturbed by foot traffic.

Wind protection. Some wind exposure is fine, but avoid placing hives in spots that get hammered by constant wind. A fence, hedge, or building can serve as a windbreak.

Water source nearby. Bees need water. If there is not a natural source close by, set up a shallow water dish or birdbath. Add some rocks or floating corks so bees can land without drowning.

Good drainage. Do not put your hive in a low spot where water pools after rain.

Sun and shade balance. Morning sun is good because it gets bees active early. Some afternoon shade helps in hot climates. Full shade all day is not ideal.

Easy access for you. Remember, you need to get to this hive for inspections and harvest. Do not put it somewhere you cannot easily reach with equipment.

Getting Your First Bees

You have a hive. Now you need residents. There are three main ways to get bees.

Buy from a dealer. This is the most straightforward option. You order a package of bees (usually about 3 pounds, which is roughly 10,000 bees) or a nucleus colony (a small established colony with a laying queen). It gets shipped or you pick it up.

Attract a swarm. When a colony outgrows its hive, it splits and part of the colony leaves with a queen to find a new home. Swarms are actually very docile because the bees have no home to defend. You can set up a bait hive to attract them.

Catch a swarm. If you spot a swarm in the wild, you can capture it using a nuc box and sugar spray. The sugar spray gives the bees something to eat and keeps them calm during the transfer.

For beginners, Kim Pezza recommends buying from a dealer or having an experienced beekeeper help you with swarm catching. Dealing with a ball of 10,000 bees on a tree branch is not the best first day activity if you have never handled bees before.

Pick What Works for You

There is no single right answer for hive type or setup. It depends on your climate, your space, how hands-on you want to be, and what your goals are. The standard Langstroth hive is the most popular for good reason. But if the Warre or Top Bar approach appeals to you, those are perfectly valid choices too.

The important thing is getting started.

Previous: Beekeeping Equipment for Beginners | Next: Why Honeybee Pollination Matters