Knowing the hive terms and descriptions is an important basic need when becoming a beekeeper. This will make life easier for you and for anyone trying to help you along the way.

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Lets work our way from the top down.

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1. Outer cover--Just like your house--you need a good roof. These come flat, telescoping and gable style just like your home.

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2. Inner cover--This keeps the bees in the bee space and stops them from building comb inside the outer cover.

The inner cover has a hole in the middle for ventilation.

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3. Frame--Frames are wood or plastic. These are just that--a frame--which holds foundation. Foundation can be made of wax, plastic, wax covered plastic and some traditional frames will have just a wedge of wood at the top that the bees will build comb from as a guide.

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4. Medium honey super--This is the size of the box that will hold medium frames. Being that these are higher in the hive-the queen usually will not lay eggs here so these will be filled with honey by the bees.

Mediums are a nice size frame and box to work with because when they are filled with honey they are heavy!

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5. Deep hive bodies--This is the largest size box where the queen will lay eggs for brood. Sometimes called brood boxes or brood chambers. Very often the term Deep is used by itself. The frames are also relative to the size of the box--deep frames. It is best to have two deeps for brood.

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6. Entrance reducer--An important piece in the hive depending on the time of year and the habits going on-this be will used in different positions to open or restrict the entry to the hive.

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7. Bottom board-Solid bottom or screened bottom?? You will have to determine what your preference is based on your style of beekeeping and the climate you are in. 

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8. Hive stand--Many options exist from homemade style stands, concrete blocks, pallets, to online purchased custom made stands.

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