The most important area of the beehive is the brood box, where the queen bee lays her eggs. The brood box is the largest single area of the hive and contains ten brood frames. Each frame is usually strengthened with thin hardened steel wire, about four strands pulled across the frame and stretched tight. This strengthening of the frame is essential since the honeycombs with the honey are heavy. To encourage the bees to create honeycombs so that the beekeeper can work more comfortably with the brood frames a bee's wax sheet is positioned hanging down, wedged at the top of the frame and supported by the thin hardened steel wire. The worker bees make honeycombs hanging down from the top of every brood frame. The queen bee will lay her eggs in the cells of the honeycombs the worker bees built. The eggs can become larvae and will be fed by the worker bees. This brood box is focused on the queen bee on her behalf to lay eggs and to keep the bee colony alive. The brood box is never robbed.
Other less noticed elements of the brood box are the entrance slots where the worker bees will enter the beehive and leave to go and collect pollen and nectar. My preference is to create these entrance slots in the front area of the brood box at the end, one on the left and one on the right. I make my entrance slots about sixty millimeters lengthwise and the height about ten millimeters. This entrance will easily permit the queen bee to come and go once the swarm splits. The entrances are also to small for rodents. The reason for just two entrances being opposite each other is allowing the bees to fan a round wind movement keeping the beehive cool in summer. My winters are cold but we do not have snow therefore the bees simply wax up the other entrance, this restricts the circular movement of air keeping the hive warmer in winter. The front of the hive also must have a slender landing strip about fifty millimeters wide. This strip will be useful for the honey bees to complete their dance, through which the bees communicate the precise distance and location of any new nectar and pollen findings.
On top of the brood box we shall stack the supers which are much smaller boxes. A beehive might have several supers stacked one on top of the other. The queen bee needs to be prevented from entering some of the supers, otherwise she'll lay her eggs there, and the objective of the supers will be defeated since they are useful for storing honey. This is performed with a queen bee separator grid with spaced openings just big enough allowing the worker bees through and is positioned on top of the brood box, the first super is positioned on top of the queen bee separator grid. You simply need one separator grid and any additional super is positioned on top of the first super. On top of the last super there should be a ply wood cover with an oval hole at the center for ventilation and preventing the bees building honeycombs on the lid of the hive. The lid covers the entire hive over lapping the hive on all sides to protect the hive from rain and snow. The lid will have to be overlaid with a soft aluminium cover. In the snow fall areas the lid will be needing ventilation holes on opposite sides to stop the condensation as a result of heat produced by the honey bees clustering to keep warm.
The complete beehive is interconnected and each part has a specific purpose, no parts must be left from the hive. All in the hive has a function and can be used to greatly help the bees make honey for the beekeeper. The above mentioned hive is made in such away that the bees will not just have not a problem in doing what come naturally for them, making honey, but can make the management of the hive so easier for the beekeeper.
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