The white box hives you usually see are Langstroth hives, devised by Rev. L. L. Langstroth in the 1850s. He figured out the exact size of bees space (1/4-3/8 inch) which is the distance needed between combs for bees to be comfortable. Basically, it’s the space need for 2 bees to pass each other conveniently. So, Rev. L created a box with removable frames for the combs that allowed for bee space, virtually inventing commercial beekeeping on the spot.
This is VERY convenient for humans. Beekeepers start with a brood box for the queen to begin her family and as the colony expands, beekeepers ad supers above the brood chamber for honey stores. Big supers are called “deeps” because they are. There are also medium and small supers. And some beekeepers use queen excluders to keep her from laying eggs in the comb where the honey is collecting.
Langstroth hives also use a foundation that the bees draw their comb out from. I have read that this tends to make larger cells than bees do on their own, which is great for honey production.
I know of 3 other types of hives that have removable frames.
Warré are stacked but with the empty boxes added to the bottom and they use frames without foundation. There are also Kenyan Top Bar Hives and Tanzanian Long Hives, which don’t add to the top and use top bars that the bees draw the comb down from on their own, with the only support that which they create as the build out to the side of the hive.
Skeps, the straw hives that make you think of Winnie-the-Pooh, don’t have removable frames so when a beekeeper takes honey, s/he does a lot more damage to the hive than the other ones I just mentioned.
We are using KTBH because we think that it looks the most bee- friendly. There is one person in our area, that we know of, who is using a long hive. I look forward to an opportunity to see hers at some point.
They have flaps on the side with plastic windows, so we can look in without disturbing the girls as much as removing the top would.
And they really are cute. The fact that they have flowers on the ends just cracks me up. We’re hoping that the fact that they don’t look like Langstroth hives makes them kinda stealth so it won’t freak out the neighbors so much.
Here’s a thing I learned that amazed me. Blueberries are pollinated by bees, but the openings of the flowers are too small so bumbles make holes in them and honeybees use those holes to get to the nectar and pollen, too.
AND it takes many visits by bees to pollinate cucumbers. Like around a dozen. And no bees, no cukes.
The hive is a big empty box with the bars across the top. The angle of that pointy bit is cut to be right for the bee space.
Langstroth hives use 4 sided frames that usually have a foundation put on by the beekeeper. They are more supportive of the comb allowing th beekeepers greater ease when checking the hive and they make it easier to harvest the honey.
I am the Audience 
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