Beehive
[1][2] The nest's internal structure is a densely packed group of hexagonal prismatic cells made of beeswax, called a honeycomb.
The bees use the cells to store food (honey and pollen) and to house the brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae).
These include producing honey, pollinating nearby crops, housing bees for apitherapy treatment, and mitigating the effects of colony collapse disorder.
The bees often smooth the bark surrounding the nest entrance and coat the cavity walls with a thin layer of hardened plant resin called propolis.
Honeycombs are attached to the walls along the cavity tops and sides, but the bees leave passageways along the comb edges.
[7] The walls of the Egyptian sun temple of Nyuserre Ini from the 5th Dynasty, dated earlier than 2422 BCE, depict workers blowing smoke into hives as they remove honeycombs.
[9] The archaeologist Amihai Mazar cites 30 intact hives that were discovered in the ruins of Rehov (2,000 residents in 900 BCE, Israelites and Canaanites).
An altar decorated with fertility figurines was found alongside the hives and may indicate religious practices associated with beekeeping.
Harvest often destroyed the hives, though some adaptations were using top baskets which could be removed when the bees filled them with honey.
These were gradually supplanted with box hives of varying dimensions, with or without frames, and finally replaced by newer modern equipment.
Long cylinders of baked clay were used in ancient Egypt, the Middle East, and to some extent in Greece, Italy, and Malta.
[13] Skeps have two disadvantages: beekeepers cannot inspect the comb for diseases and pests, and honey removal is difficult and often results in the destruction of the entire colony.
This cap acted as a crude super, allowing some honey to be extracted with less destruction of brood and bees.
For example, in Poland, such a beehive was called a barć and was protected in various ways from unfavorable weather conditions (rain, frost) and predators (woodpeckers, bears, pine martens, forest dormice).
Harvest of honey from these did not destroy the colony, as only a protective piece of wood was removed from the opening and smoke was used to pacify the bees for a short time.
[20][21][22][23] The length of these log hives used is shorter than bee gums; they are hollowed out artificially and cut to a specific size.
Intermediate stages in hive design were recorded for example by Thomas Wildman in 1768-1770, who described advances over the destructive old skep-based beekeeping so that the bees no longer had to be killed to harvest the honey.
Wildman acknowledged the advances in knowledge of bees previously made by Swammerdam, Maraldi, and de Reaumur – he included a lengthy translation of Reaumur's account of the natural history of bees – and he also described the initiatives of others in designing hives for the preservation of bee-life when taking the harvest, citing in particular reports from Brittany dating from the 1750s, due to Comte de la Bourdonnaye.
In 1814 Petro Prokopovych, the founder of commercial beekeeping in Ukraine, invented one of the first beehive frames which allowed an easier honey harvest.
In 1848, Dzierżon introduced grooves into the hive's side walls replacing the strips of wood for moving top bars.
A variety of approximations to Langstroth's original box and frame sizes are still used, with top bars some 19 in (480 mm) long[35] or a little more.
It was commissioned by and named after the Congested Districts Board for Ireland which provided support for rural populations until its absorption into the Department of Agriculture.
In areas where large terrestrial animals such as honey badgers and bears present a threat to beehives, single-box hives may be suspended out of reach.
Top bars are simple lengths of timber often made by cutting scrap wood to size; it is not necessary to buy or assemble frames.
This non-stacked style had higher popularity a century ago in the Southeast United States but faded from use due to a lack of portability.
In masonic lectures, it represents industry and cooperation,[51] and as a metaphor cautioning against intellectual laziness, warning that "he that will so demean himself as not to be endeavoring to add to the common stock of knowledge and understanding, may be deemed a drone in the hive of nature, a useless member of society, and unworthy of our protection as Masons.
41, Bath and is explained as such:[53] The Beehive teaches us that as we are born into the world rational and intelligent beings, so ought we also to be industrious ones, and not stand idly by or gaze with listless indifference on even the meanest of our fellow creatures in a state of distress if it is in our power to help them without detriment to ourselves or our connections; the constant practice, – of this virtue is enjoined on all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven to the meanest reptile that crawls in the dust.The beehive is also used with a similar meaning by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as Mormons.
[54] Beekeepers and companies may remove unwanted honey bee nests from structures to relocate them into an artificial hive.
These hives are hung on a single metal wire that encircles the crop field of some farms in African elephant territory.
Modern honey frame and centerfuge systems, such as Langstroth, are less harmful to the hive, assuming harvest will happen, and increase production at the same time.
