Honey Supers and Brood Boxes: Explained

The varying sizes of boxes all have different names. I like to keep it simple, so the only beekeeping terms I typically use to describe them are 10 frame, 8 frame, 5 frame, deep box, medium box, and shallow box. 

These 6 terms include all the sizes most US beekeepers use. All of these size boxes can be used by the bees to do anything they want. They can raise brood, and queens, collect pollen and store honey in every size here.

Brood boxes or a brood chamber doesn’t really describe the size of the box (though many beekeepers use the term that way); it describes what the bees are doing with it. 

Beekeepers often use the term brood box or brood chamber when discussing deep boxes because that is what they are usually used for.

The brood is the nursery of the hive, so that is the place you will find the queen, eggs, larva, pupae, and other parts of the brood nest. The size of the brood nest will change based on the location of the hive.

Beekeepers in Canada need a hive with a larger brood nest (ie more boxes) because the colony has a longer winter to survive than a beekeeper in Miami. 

So a beekeeper in Minnesota may have a brood nest that is 2 deep boxes or 3 medium boxes and this is what the bees will be in when winter starts. A beekeeper in Texas may be just fine with 1 deep box or 2 medium boxes when winter starts.

Much like brood boxes, honey boxes can either be a deep or medium box. They can also be shallow boxes if that is what the beekeeper uses. 

Because a deep box is so heavy when full of honey, a deep box is only used for honey production in commercial operations when efficiency is more important than the backs of their employees.

When talking about honey boxes, nearly all beekeepers are talking about medium boxes and sometimes shallow boxes. So if you hear honey box or honey super, they are not talking about a deep box (usually).

Frames are slightly easier to understand (usually). There are variations for each, but all most beekeepers use either deep frames, medium frames, or shallow frames. 

Their size matches the boxes they go in, and they are not interchangeable. Even though a medium frame can fit into a deep box, you must use deep frames in a deep box.

The size of foundation that goes into the frame is dictated by the size of the frame. So the size of the foundation will change as well as the type of foundation used. 

The two most common types of foundation is beeswax coated plastic foundation and pure beeswax foundation.

At Foxhound Bee Company, we have a term we use to help beginner beekeepers understand the general flow of beekeeping throughout the year. 

I didn’t understand it when I started, so we teach it to our customers. The colony lives in the boxes, and the colony’s size expands and contracts through the year. 

The colony’s size tracks the weather; it’s the largest in the summer and the smallest in the winter.

When hives are coming out of winter, a full-size colony is usually 2-3 boxes (the 365-day hive). The hive is expanding into spring and will need more room soon.

During the spring and summer, the colony needs the most space and the largest cavity this time. So this is when most beekeepers add honey supers and frames, usually 2-4 boxes. In these boxes, the bees store their excess honey.

Once the beekeeper goes out to harvest honey during mid-late summer, the beekeeper will remove the surplus honey boxes that were a part of the bee’s excess honey production. 

The honey boxes removed are not put on until the following year, leaving the colony with it’s 365-day hive again. And this is what they go into winter with and is usually 2-3 boxes.