BEEKEEPING
The components of a beehive
Worldwide, there are any number of designs and shapes of hives that beekeepers use to house their swarms. Some are based on designs that have been developed over millennia. Others take into account the availability of local material in their construction and yet others are designed with specific local climatic considerations in mind. In South Africa, the most commonly used hive design is the Langstroth, a flexible multi-chamber design that allows the beekeeper to adjust the size of the hive according to the strength of the swarm. The Langstroth is based on two sizes of chamber. At the bottom, and fitting onto a solid base, is the larger of the two, the brood chamber, which with the base incorporates a small aperture at the base to allow for the entrance and exit of the bees.
Above the brood chamber is a shallower chamber commonly called the“ super”, which can be fitted in multiples to accommodate larger swarms. It is not uncommon to have a large swarm accommodated in a set-up of three or four supers. Atop the top super is an inner lid which seals and insulates the hive and, to protect the hive from the elements, a larger outer lid is fitted, which
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Basic components of a Langstroth hive showing a brood chamber. One frame is removed to show the wax fopundation sheet. Behind it is the inner lid and to the left the outer lid covered with an aluminium alloy plate.
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