HIVE STYLES

There are several types of beehives to consider.

- M. BRACKNEY

From the type of honeybees you choose to the number of hives you manage and how you choose to manage them - there is seemingly endless variability in beekeeping. For new and expanding beekeepers, deciding which kind of beehive to use is yet another variable in play. Your beekeeping goals, local climate and budget are a few factors to consider as you weigh your options. Your equipment's interchangeability is paramount, too.

Michael Bush, author of The Practical Beekeeper book series, primarily uses modified Langstroth hives. "I run all eight-frame, medium Langstroth boxes," he says. "Full of honey, they don't weigh over 50 pounds, and I use them for everything" - well, nearly everything. Bush also keeps bees in some top-bar hives, Slovenian hives, Flow hives and a Huber observation hive. But he doesn't necessarily recommend mixing and matching your own hives to such a degree.

"If you've got five different kinds of hives, what are you going to do when this one is queenless and you need a frame of brood?" he asks. "With five different kinds of hives, you don't have any interchangeable parts - unless you went out of your way to make sure they were all interchangeable."

THE LANGSTROTH HIVE

Interchangeability and the ability to are easily expand colony size as needed just part of the appeal of Langstroth hives for David T. Peck. Peck holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University's department of neurobiology and behavior and serves as director of research and education at Betterbee.