The Beehive - what are all the parts?

The Roof - self-explanatory, but does need to have holes to provide ventilation.

Crown Board - Sometimes called the Internal Roof, this board closes of the top of the hive internally with cut out holes. This allows you to rest a Feeder on top within the hive should you want to supplement the colonies food source - this is usually done when you first get a colony to help build them up, or through winter to get them through the cold without having to venture outside too much.

Super Box - This is the smaller of the boxes that build a hive. The National standard sizes are 15cm x 46cm x 46cm. Super boxes are generally for honey production so your aim is to keep the Queen out of here, although traditional beekeepers may not exclude the queen from certain areas of her palace! Usually you are supplied with 2 super boxes per standard package, although you can add as many as you wish as you look to increase yield - word of warning, only add new super boxes once the previous box is nearly full, otherwise your bees will build a thin channel vertically through your hive from the start and it becomes a nightmare!

Super Frames & Foundation - The frames and foundation are a man-made accompaniment for the bees to build their honeycomb structure. The foundations are made from beeswax, usually collected from the previous years beekeeper yield. These frames are specifically for a Super Box (Height = 14cm).

Queen Excluder - this is a metallic grill plate that is specifically sized to allow worker bees through but be too small to allow the Queen to pass. This is used when you don’t want to let your Queen lay eggs in the super boxes, so that they can be dedicated to honey storage (improving your yield and making extraction easier).

Brood Box - this is a larger version of the Super Box and is where the main body of the colony live. This is the ‘hive hub’ where nearly everything happens but mainly where eggs are laid. Standard National sizes are 22.5cm x 46cm x 46cm.

Brood Frames & Foundation - same as Super Frames & Foundations above, but designed to fit the larger brood box (height = 21.6cm).

Bottom Tray, Entrance Guide with Varroa Inspection board - this is the base to your hive. The mesh tray allows for good ventilation, the entrance guide reduces the size of the entrance to block unwanted guests and gives the bees better control over visitor access. The Varroa Inspection tray lets you check whether your colony has Varroa through catching little mites that fall off the larvae - this is usually only needed at the start and end of the honey season.

The Tools - What do they all do?

Beekeeper Suit - The suits main reason is obviously to stop the bees from stinging you, but remember that a bee will only really resort to stinging as a last resort. You will find a large selection of suits from full body, pullovers and just hats with netting - they all work. In reality, the suit you should pick is what makes you feel comfortable when you open up the hive. For a new beginner a full body suit is probably the option, although as you become more comfortable with being around bees you may change this to a pullover just for ease. But always make sure you have your head covered!

Hive Tool - Most hive tools have 2 functions; firstly they are used to clean/scrape the excess propolis off of the hive parts and help separate the boxes when you come to opening up the hive, secondly the other end has a hook so you can get under the frame handles when trying to pull them out for close inspection. The bees will stick everything together so this tool really helps separating it all for inspection.

Smoker - When opening up your hive its commonplace to puff a little smoke into the hive which has a calming affect on the bees. There isn’t a definitive reason why this is the case, although a widely accepted explanation is that the smoke stops the bees communicating through pheromones so they are quite placid when you first go in.

Feeder - A feeder is used to provide your bees with a food source when you may wish to supplement there food intake. It is a container to hold a sugary solution. Usually used for new colonies or during the winter to help build up their energy levels.

Gloves - like the beesuits, there a different levels to gloves. For a quick guide:

• Gloves aren’t necessary, in fact most experienced keepers don’t wear any. You may feel uncomfortable with this at first in terms of protection

• Thick leather gloves are obviously the best defence against stings, but they make it very hard to handle the frames and can result in squashing bees as you can’t get any ‘feel’ into your tips

• Thin rubber gloves allow you to keep the sensitivity in your fingers but also offer you a little protection/piece of mind. We recommend these gloves for beginners