Choosing the Best Hive For Your Bee Colony

As you make plans to begin keeping bees, it is important to determine what type of bee hive you would like to use. There are two main types of hives, the Langstroth hive and the Top-Bar hive.

What the Langstroth hive has going for it is that it is the most commonly used hive in the United States and that is the easiest to maintain and to extract the honey from. As people have designed and practiced new and different ways of keeping beehives, ease and efficiency of gathering honey has been the most important thing in hive design. The Langstroth hive is a reusable beehive that makes honey gathering simple and the design of the honeycomb easy for the bees to build from. The support structure is rectangular in design and holds nearly a dozen frames from which the bees can make their combs. The structure's top and bottom are open and the combs are made of wax or plastic. The bees build over these combs, depositing pollen and honey as they go. When the beekeeper is ready to harvest the honey, the frames can easily slide out of the structure and later replaced and reused.

On the other hand, the Top-Bar hive, which is most commonly found in Africa, produces much higher quality honey but you can't re-use the combs and the amount of honey that is produced is much lower. While it is not widely used in the United States, the top-bar hive has gained some popularity with hobby beekeepers. As the name would suggest, the top-bar hive hangs from a bar across the top of the structure and allows the honeybees to build their combs from this point. For those beekeepers planning to sell in-comb honey, this beehive is an excellent choice.

Once you determine the type of hive you will use, you will also need to consider where your hives will be kept and how best to protect them from natural predators and climate changes. You also need to make sure that there aren't any local regulations that will prevent you from having a beehive in your area. The last thing you want to do is to go through all the trouble of setting up a wonderful, honey-producing beehive only to have the cops show up and haul it away.

Placement of beehives is an important consideration with many factors at play. The hives should not be near homes or commonly used outdoor areas as many people find them irritating or a safety risk, for those allergic to the bee venom. However, keeping them easily accessible is still advantageous, as you will still need to care for them in the colder seasons. As many people enjoy having bees to help pollinate their gardens and crops, it is valuable to have the hives placed in close proximity to these areas. Bees also need to have a fresh water source. Bees are not picky and this can be either naturally occurring or water that is provided by the beekeeper. You also need to make sure that your beehive is safe from vandals and predators. Many animals such as bears, skunks, and people will not hesitate to raid your hive for a tasty honey treat. Though there are many factors to consider when planning for your bee colonies, doing the research and making careful, thoughtful decisions in the long run will yield the most positive results.

Chris Shireman is a beekeeping expert. For more information on beekeeping hive, visit http://www.beekeepinginfocenter.com.