The Hive
At the beginning of the year, the hive mostly consists of the brood chamber or brood box.
Brood is the word for the baby bees - so this is where the Queen lays the eggs and the babies develop, where the nurse bees and other worker bees live (and where the honey stores are kept over winter).
The brood box has the only entrance to the hive at the front (often with a little 'lip' for bees to land on).
It usually sited off the ground - on a platform of some sort, or legs.
And it has a roof on top.
Sometimes the hives are painted, sometimes simply varnished or treated wood.
Brood is the word for the baby bees - so this is where the Queen lays the eggs and the babies develop, where the nurse bees and other worker bees live (and where the honey stores are kept over winter).
The brood box has the only entrance to the hive at the front (often with a little 'lip' for bees to land on).
It usually sited off the ground - on a platform of some sort, or legs.
And it has a roof on top.
Sometimes the hives are painted, sometimes simply varnished or treated wood.
Above: a hive with just the brood chamber and roof.
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Left and above...
Hives with a brood chamber and one 'super'. My 'supers' are about half the depth of a brood chamber but in some systems they are the same size. |
A lovely array of very colourful hives in different arrangements and with different rooves.
In Ireland, where we get a LOT of rain, our rooves are often sloped to throw the water off.
We put a cement block on top so the roof doesn't blow off in the wind.
We put a cement block on top so the roof doesn't blow off in the wind.
