2.0 EQUIPMENT
The Candidate will be
2.1 able to name and explain the function of the principal parts of a modern beehive;
NOTES
From the bottom upwards, a typical hive will have the following components:-
Floor: The base of the hive. The rest of the hive parts sit on top of the floor.
The floor will incorporate an entrance into the hive for the bees, sometimes with a landing area.
Modern floors will have mesh to allow varroa mites to fall through to an inspection board that slides in below the floor. Older floors without a mesh are often called “solid” floors.
Brood Chamber: A box with shelves on two sides that support removable frames.
The brood chamber is intended for the bees to rear their young in.
The brood chamber will be filled with frames of comb, or foundation sheets ready to be drawn into comb.
Larval bees in different stages of development will cover an approximately oval area spreading outwards from the centre of the brood chamber. Some pollen and honey may be stored at the outer edges of the brood area.
A hive may have one or more brood chambers.
Queen excluder: A mesh of slots or wires with enough space for worker bees to pass through but not the queen who is larger.
The queen excluder is designed to stop the queen from moving from the brood chamber to the supers to prevent her from laying eggs in the honey stores.
Super: A box with shelves on two sides that support removable frames, similar to the brood chamber, but usually less deep.
The super is intended for the bees to store honey in.
The super will be filled with frames of comb, or foundation sheets ready to be drawn into comb.
Bees tend to store honey above their brood nest and will use the super to store nectar and eventually concentrate this into honey which is sealed with a wax capping.
A hive may have several supers (or none at all, depending on what activities are being carried out in the hive at the time).
Crown board: A cover for the top of the hive parts that contain bees.
The crown board will usually have one or more holes in it that are used for feeding or ventilation.
The crown board will sometimes be used for other operations in the hive and may have special modifications for these purposes. For example, Porter bee escapes can be fitted and the board used below the supers to “clear” bees from the honey stores.
Roof: A weatherproof lid for the hive.
The roof usually has a metal covering and is slightly wider than the the rest of the hive to make an overhang.
The upturned roof is useful for stacking the hive parts when inspecting the hive.