Types of Beehives: Which Is Best for Beginners?

The main types of beehives are the Langstroth, top-bar, Warré, Flow Hive and Layens. For most beginners, the best choice is a Langstroth hive, the stacked-box hive with removable frames that most North American beekeepers use. Parts, bees, books and mentors all fit it. Choose a top-bar or Layens hive if you cannot lift heavy boxes, and a Warré if you want a low-intervention, natural-comb hive.

Below you will find each hive type compared side by side, which one suits which beekeeper, and what to check before you buy. At the bottom are all our beehive guides and reviews.

Types of beehives compared

Hive type	Layout	Frames	Heaviest lift	Honey harvest	Best for
Langstroth	Vertical stack of boxes	Removable frames with foundation	About 80–90 lb (10-frame deep of honey)	Extractor; comb reused	Most beginners; honey production
Top-bar	One long horizontal box	Bars only; bees build natural comb	One comb at a time	Crush and strain; comb not reused	Beekeepers who cannot lift boxes; small gardens
Warré	Vertical stack of small square boxes	Top bars, natural comb	About 30–40 lb per box, but you lift the whole stack to add boxes underneath	Crush and strain	Low-intervention, natural-comb beekeeping
Flow Hive	Langstroth brood box plus a Flow super	Standard frames below, plastic Flow frames above	Same as Langstroth brood box	Honey drains from a tap without opening the hive	Hobbyists who want easy harvest and are ready to learn Langstroth care
Layens	One wide horizontal box	Extra-deep frames (about 16 in)	One frame at a time	Extractor with large baskets, or crush and strain	Cold climates; beekeepers who want less lifting and fewer inspections

Langstroth hive

Designed in 1852 by Lorenzo Langstroth, this is the standard hive in the US. It is a stack of boxes: a bottom board, one or two deep boxes for the brood nest, then shallower honey supers on top, with an inner cover and outer cover. Each box holds 8 or 10 hanging frames spaced to respect “bee space”, so the bees do not glue everything together and you can lift frames out to inspect them.

The big advantages are standard parts, easy inspections and high honey yields, since drawn comb goes back in the hive after extraction. The drawback is weight: a full 10-frame deep box of honey can weigh 80–90 lb. See our picks of the best Langstroth beehives and components and the parts of a beehive explained.

Top-bar hive

A top-bar hive is a long, waist-high trough with wooden bars laid across the top. The bees build natural comb hanging from each bar. You never lift more than one comb at a time, and the hive is cheap and simple to build.

The trade-offs: natural comb is fragile, especially in hot weather, and it will not go in a standard extractor, so you crush and strain it and the bees must rebuild. Yields are lower than a Langstroth, and parts and nucs will not swap between the two systems. Read our detailed look at the top-bar hive and top-bar beekeeping for beginners.

Warré hive

Designed by the French priest Émile Warré as “the people’s hive”, it is a vertical stack of small square boxes, about 12 in (30 cm) across, each with eight top bars and no frames or foundation. Instead of adding boxes on top, you add them at the bottom (“nadiring”), which mimics how a wild colony builds comb downward in a tree.

Warrés suit beekeepers who want to open the hive rarely. Inspections are harder, since combs are often attached to the box walls, which makes checking brood and doing mite counts more work. Adding a box means lifting the whole stack. See a detailed look at the Warré hive.

Flow Hive

A Flow Hive is a Langstroth-style hive whose honey super holds plastic Flow frames. When the cells are capped, you turn a key, the cells split inside the frame, and honey drains out through a tube into a jar, with little disturbance to the bees.

It makes harvest easy, but everything else about beekeeping stays the same: you still inspect the brood box, manage mites, prevent swarms and prepare for winter. Some colonies are slow to move into plastic frames. Our Flow Hive review covers what it does well and where it falls short.

Layens hive

The Layens is a horizontal box holding up to about 20 extra-deep frames, roughly 13 in wide and 16 in deep. Like a top-bar hive, you work one frame at a time at waist height, but the frames are wired and can be reused. The deep combs suit how bees cluster in winter, which is why the design is popular in cold regions. It is less common in the US, so parts are harder to find and frames do not fit Langstroth equipment.

Other hives you may come across

WBC and British National hives are the traditional hives of the UK. See our introduction to the WBC hive.
Observation hives have glass sides for watching bees indoors or at schools. They are for education, not honey. See observation hives.
Plastic and polystyrene hives follow Langstroth dimensions but use different materials. See plastic vs wooden beehives.
Mason bee houses are not hives at all. They are nesting tubes for solitary mason bees, which pollinate but do not make honey. See our picks of the best mason bee houses.

What is the best beehive for beginners?

For most new beekeepers, a Langstroth hive. Here is why:

Bees come ready to fit it. Nucleus colonies (nucs) are sold on Langstroth deep frames, so you drop them straight in.
Help is easy to find. Most books, courses and local club mentors teach on Langstroth hives.
Inspections are easier. Frames lift out cleanly, which makes it simpler to find eggs, spot disease and do mite counts.
Parts are interchangeable. You can buy frames, boxes and covers from any supplier and mix them.

The main question is 8-frame or 10-frame boxes. The 10-frame is the most common and holds more bees and honey per box. The 8-frame is about 2 in narrower and roughly 20% lighter when full, so it is worth considering if lifting is a concern.

Box (full of honey)	Approximate weight
10-frame deep	80–90 lb
8-frame deep	60–70 lb
10-frame medium	50–60 lb
8-frame medium	40–50 lb

Many beginners use medium boxes for everything, brood and honey, so every box and frame is the same size and no box gets too heavy. The one catch is that most nucs come on deep frames, so check what your supplier sells before you decide.

If you cannot lift 50 lb at all, a top-bar or Layens hive is a better fit. Our longer answer is in what is the best beehive for beginners.

Beehive buying guide: what to check before you buy

things to consider while choosing bee hive

Complete hive or starter kit?

A complete Langstroth hive should include a bottom board, entrance reducer, one or two brood boxes, at least one honey super, frames with foundation for every box, an inner cover and an outer (telescoping) cover. A starter kit adds the tools: usually a veil or suit, gloves, a smoker, a hive tool and a feeder. For a first hive, a kit is the simplest way to be sure nothing is missing. See the best beehive starter kits.

Material

Pine is the standard. It is light and easy to repair, and lasts many years if painted.
Cedar resists rot better and can be left unpainted or oiled, but it is softer and dents more easily.
Polystyrene and insulated plastic hives keep colonies warmer in winter and cooler in summer, and do not rot. They are harder to repair if damaged.

Paint or seal only the outside of wooden boxes, never the inside or the frames. Use an exterior latex paint in a light color. See the best paint for beehives and the best wood for making beehives.

Assembled or unassembled

Unassembled hives cost less and ship flat, but you need glue, nails and an afternoon or two, plus time to put the frames together. Assembled hives save that time. If you go unassembled, follow our guide to assembling a Langstroth beehive, and order early so the hive is ready before your bees arrive in spring.

The extras you will need

A hive stand to lift the hive 12–18 in off damp ground, reduce pests and save your back. See the best hive stands.
A queen excluder if you want to keep brood out of your honey supers. Read our guide to queen excluders before deciding, since some beekeepers prefer not to use one.
A nuc box for catching swarms, making splits or holding a spare queen. See our 5-frame nuc box guide.
Protective gear and tools: a smoker, hive tool, protective clothing and a feeder.

How many hives, and where to put them

Start with two hives if you can. With two colonies you can compare them, and you can move a frame of eggs or brood from a strong colony to rescue a queenless one. With one, a failed queen can end your first season. See how many beehives you need.

Put the hives on a level stand in a spot with morning sun, shelter from strong wind, a nearby water source and room to work behind them. Face the entrance away from paths and neighbours, or use a fence or hedge to push the bees’ flight path up over head height. Check local rules on keeping bees first. See where to place a beehive.

Getting bees into your hive

Most beginners start with a nuc, a small working colony of about five frames with a laying queen, brood and stores, or a package, a screened box of about 3 lb of bees with a caged queen. A nuc builds up faster because it already has comb and brood. A package costs less and suits hives that do not take Langstroth frames. See installing a nuc, installing package bees and where to buy bees.

Once your bees are in, our bee care guide walks you through inspections, mite control and the seasonal calendar.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest type of beehive for beginners?

A Langstroth hive is the easiest to learn on, because bees, parts and advice are all built around it. A top-bar hive is easier on your back, but its fragile natural comb and less common equipment make it a little harder to learn on.

Should a beginner get an 8-frame or 10-frame hive?

A 10-frame hive is the standard and the easiest to buy parts and nucs for. Choose 8-frame if you are worried about lifting, since a full box is about 20% lighter. Both use the same frames, so you can switch later.

Is a Flow Hive good for beginners?

It can be, as long as you know it only changes the honey harvest. You still need to inspect the brood box, test and treat for mites, and prevent swarms, exactly as with a regular Langstroth hive.

Top-bar vs Langstroth: which is better?

A Langstroth produces more honey and makes inspections and parts easier. A top-bar hive is cheaper, needs no heavy lifting and lets bees build natural comb, but yields less and harvests destroy the comb. Choose based on your goals and your back.

How many beehives should a beginner start with?

Two. It is not much more work than one, it lets you compare colonies, and you can use one to help the other if it loses its queen or runs short of bees.

Are plastic beehives better than wooden ones?

Neither is clearly better. Wood is traditional, repairable and accepted readily by bees. Plastic and polystyrene hives last longer without paint and insulate better, but can be harder to repair. See plastic vs wooden beehives for the full comparison.

All our beehive guides

Buying guides, reviews and how-tos for choosing, building and setting up your hive.

Types of Beehives and How to Choose the Best One for Beginners