Telescoping lid
The telescoping lid is the weatherproof top cap of the hive that fits snugly over the edges of the top box like a shoe box lid. Its purpose is to protect the colony from rain, wind, and predators while helping to regulate internal temperature. It is usually covered in aluminum or galvanized metal to reflect heat and ensure it lasts for years against the elements.
Inner Cover
Located just beneath the outer lid, the inner cover is a flat wooden board with a central hole that provides a dead-air space for insulation. It prevents the bees from gluing the outer telescoping lid down with propolis, ensuring the beekeeper can actually open the hive. It has a notch to allow a second upper entrance for the bees in the summertime.
Top Feeder
This is a specialized feeding reservoir placed directly on top of the hive boxes to provide sugar syrup to the colony during times of nectar scarcity. Bees are only fed sugar water for their reserves, and are removed from the hive when honey supers are added. These boxes are coated with wax to prevent leaking.
Feeder Slats
he wooden floating slats rise and fall with the liquid level, providing a safe platform for the bees to stand on so they can drink without drowning.
Honey Super
The honey super is a shorter wooden box placed near the top of the hive stack specifically designated for surplus honey storage. Its primary purpose is to give the bees a dedicated space to store nectar away from the main brood nest, which the beekeeper can later harvest. These boxes are smaller than deeps for the sole purpose of being lighter to carry when full of honey.
Super Frames
Super frames are the removable wooden or plastic rectangles that hang inside the honey super box. It holds the wax foundation where bees build honeycomb to store their honey reserves. Yellow foundations mimic natural beeswax and provide a light background that allows beekeepers to easily judge the clarity and color grade of their honey against the light.
Queen excluder
The queen excluder is a flat wire grid with precise gaps placed between the brood chambers and the honey supers. It keeps the larger queen bee confined to the lower boxes so she doesn't lay eggs in the honey frames destined for human consumption. While the worker bees are narrow enough to slip through the wire grid.
Deep(s)
The deep is the largest box in the hive stack and serves as the colony's primary living room and nursery. It’s the main house of the hive, where the queen lays eggs and the colony stores essential pollen and honey food reserves. A healthy colony in Western Washington requires two deeps to successfully raise enough bees to survive the winter.
Deep Frames
Deep frames are large, removable wooden or plastic inserts designed to hang inside the deep box. They provide the structural boundary for bees to build deep comb, which is utilized for raising new generations of workers and storing immediate food supplies. The black foundations provide a backdrop for the beekeeper to easily spot eggs.
Screened Bottom Board
This is the foundation floor of the entire beehive, featuring a heavy-duty mesh screen instead of a solid wood base. It supports the weight of the hive while providing crucial ventilation and allowing debris, like Varroa mites, to fall harmlessly out of the colony.
what makes a beehive?!
There's more to a hive than meets the eye! Click each section to uncover what it does and why the bees depend on it.
