Modern Box Hive
Lexikon
The box hive is by far the most widespread type of bee housing in Germany today.
The box hive is by far the most widespread type of bee housing in Germany today. It consists of several boxes of the same size made of wood or plastic, open at the top and bottom, which are stacked on top of each other, as well as a floor with an entrance and a lid on top. The frames with the combs hang in the boxes and are accessible from above.
The decisive advantage of the box hive lies in its flexibility: by adding or removing individual boxes, the beekeeper can adapt the available space to the actual strength of the colony at any time, without having to fiddle individual combs out of a closed box as with older designs. This makes swarm control, making splits, and harvesting the honey super box by box considerably easier.
For newcomers it is important to know that box hives are offered in different frame sizes such as Zander, German Normal Measure, or Dadant, which are not compatible with each other. Anyone who decides on a system should stick with it, because mixing different frame sizes within one apiary quickly leads to confusion and makes buying used accessories or foundation more complicated.