Hive & Honey Beekeeping Tools & Reference
3D Studio
Independent · non-commercial

Everything you need to know about keeping bees

28 pieces of equipment explained properly, three calculators for the arithmetic you repeat every season, and four interactive simulators you can rehearse on before you open a real hive.

Browse the toolsOpen the 3D Studio

Independent education

No shop, no affiliate links, no sponsored tools. We explain how equipment works, not which brand to buy.

Nothing for sale

Hive & Honey sells no hives, suits or extractors. There is no commercial relationship anywhere on this site.

Four free simulators

Rehearse an inspection, build a hive, run an extraction and score colony health — all in the browser.

Safety first

Bee stings can be a medical emergency. We flag allergy risk, protective gear and smoker safety on every relevant page.

Five categories

Twenty-eight tools, sorted the way a season runs

From the box the colony lives in, through the gear that keeps you safe, to extraction and the long work of getting a colony through winter.

Hive & Housing

The structure the colony lives in — boxes, stands, entrances and the parts that shape a nest.

6 toolsBrowse

Honey Extraction

Uncapping, spinning, filtering and bottling — turning capped comb into jarred honey.

5 toolsBrowse

The season in four moves

How a harvest actually happens

Each step has a reason, and skipping one shows up in the jar.

  1. STEP 1

    Inspect the hive

    Open on a warm, still day, read the brood pattern and check for queen cells before they are capped.

  2. STEP 2

    Harvest the honey

    Take only frames that are at least 80% capped, and leave the colony a full winter reserve.

  3. STEP 3

    Extract and filter

    Uncap, spin, then strain through a coarse sieve and a finer one below it.

  4. STEP 4

    Bottle and store

    Settle for 24–72 hours, draw from the bottom gate, and never heat honey above 40 °C.

Interactive

The 3D Studio

Four teaching models you can turn, pull apart and argue with. Drag the comb below to rotate it, or scroll to zoom.

Live 3D previewDrag · scroll

A comb panel, drawn flat

The interactive version needs WebGL and a wider screen. Below is the same structure as a static diagram — six-sided cells on a staggered lattice, with capped cells sitting proud of the wax.

Educational model — not a photograph of real equipment

Hive Builder
3D interactive

Hive Builder

Assemble a hive component by component and get the bill of materials.

4 controlsLaunch

Most read

Popular tools

All 28 tools
Langstroth Hive — The movable-frame box that made modern beekeeping possible.
InspectHive & Housing

Langstroth Hive

The movable-frame box that made modern beekeeping possible.

Hive & HousingRead
Bee Suit — The barrier between your skin and a colony having a bad day.
InspectProtective Gear & Tools

Bee Suit

The barrier between your skin and a colony having a bad day.

Protective Gear & ToolsRead
Hive Tool — A flat bar with a hook — the single most-used object in beekeeping.
InspectProtective Gear & Tools

Hive Tool

A flat bar with a hook — the single most-used object in beekeeping.

Protective Gear & ToolsRead
Flow Hive — A super of split cells that drains honey at a tap.
HarvestHive & Housing

Flow Hive

A super of split cells that drains honey at a tap.

Hive & HousingRead
Smoker — Cool white smoke masks alarm pheromone and calms a colony.
InspectProtective Gear & Tools

Smoker

Cool white smoke masks alarm pheromone and calms a colony.

Protective Gear & ToolsRead
Honey Extractor — A centrifuge that flings honey out of the comb without breaking it.
ExtractHoney Extraction

Honey Extractor

A centrifuge that flings honey out of the comb without breaking it.

Honey ExtractionRead
Top-Bar Hive — One long trough, bars instead of frames, and no lifting.
InspectHive & Housing

Top-Bar Hive

One long trough, bars instead of frames, and no lifting.

Hive & HousingRead
Uncapping Knife — Slices the wax capping so honey can leave the cell.
ExtractHoney Extraction

Uncapping Knife

Slices the wax capping so honey can leave the cell.

Honey ExtractionRead
Veil — Face and throat protection — the one piece you never skip.
InspectProtective Gear & Tools

Veil

Face and throat protection — the one piece you never skip.

Protective Gear & ToolsRead

Free calculators

The arithmetic, done for you

Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

From the blog

Start with these

All articles
How to Inspect a Hive Safely
Inspection2 April 202612 min read

How to Inspect a Hive Safely

A repeatable inspection sequence, what to look for on each frame, and how to leave the colony calmer than you found it.

Maren TolhurstRead

Rehearse it before you open the box

Four simulators, free and unregistered. Run an inspection, assemble a hive, spin a batch of honey, or score a colony's health — then go and do it for real.

Open the 3D Studio