The Beehive & Bee Equipment Patent Archive

The patented pursuit of the perfect hive

19th century apiary

Patent drawing of a house-shaped wooden beehive with a peaked roof, showing a cutaway transverse section revealing internal drawers, sliding gates, and chambers, alongside an end elevation view with decorative bracket-shaped legs.BEEHIVERobert Martin · May 19, 1840Patent drawing of a bureau-like wooden beehive with a front elevation showing rows of square honey drawers and boxes arranged in a grid, plus separate detail views of individual drawers, boxes, and a hinged lid roof.BEEHIVE.Jesse W. Davidson · September 17, 1842Patent drawing sheet showing six labeled figures of a wooden beehive: a side elevation with inclined ramps and wheels, a vertical cross-section revealing stacked slatted boxes, a top view of a drone-chamber base with parallel bars, and detail views of an inclined bottom board, a semicircular entrance cap, and a front panel with sliding doors.BEEHIVEClark Wheeler · June 20, 1845Nineteenth-century patent drawing showing five views of a wooden beehive: a front elevation with paired honey-boxes flanking a central brood chamber, a side elevation, an internal cross-section revealing a hopper-shaped bottom and a pivoted valve-pedal entrance mechanism, a honey-box cross-section, and a detail plan of the valve assembly.Bee Hive.Jesse Jacobs · December 27, 1859A patent drawing showing two views of a wooden bee hive: a full perspective view with the door open revealing internal glass-fronted honey boxes and comb bars, and a cross-sectional side view showing the inclined metal bottoms leading to a bottom drawer.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESJoseph Bradt · November 18, 1862Two patent line drawings of a wooden beehive: the top figure shows a rectangular outer box with an inner box holding several rectangular comb-frames labeled with letters, and the bottom figure shows a triangular cross-section with a V-shaped comb-frame and inclined alighting boards.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESJohn H. Hendrick · December 26, 1865A perspective drawing of a wooden beehive on four legs, showing a front porch with sliding door and glass windows, a sloped-roof cap section, and a cutaway revealing an interior pit with slanted metal shelves below a grated floor.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESGabriel Graffham · July 24, 1866Patent drawing of a wooden bee hive: Figure 1 shows a side section with a V-shaped entrance tube leading to a divided honeycomb chamber raised on angled leg supports, and Figure 2 shows a top sectional view of a cylindrical ventilator tube surrounded by wire mesh screening set into a square frame.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESJohn E. Finley · November 6, 1866Patent drawing of a wooden bee-hive in cross-section showing stacked comb-frames, a honey chamber with removable boxes above, ventilation slides and valves, an entrance porch, and a separate long-handled implement for lifting out honey boxes.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESGeorge Eason · September 22, 1868Patent drawing of a wooden beehive showing a cross-sectional elevation with stacked comb-frame sections, glass-ended honey boxes on top, and a detailed corner view of a frame with a cut-away guide bead for bee passage.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVEEdmund B. Redfield and E. C. Hubbard · June 15, 1869Patent drawing of a wooden beehive with a hinged lid, legs ending in small cups, and a cutaway cross-section showing internal air-passage walls between the comb frames and honey boxes.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESHenry Grems · March 8, 1870Exploded perspective drawing of a wooden bee-hive box showing the front glazed door open, a raised cap with comb-frames inside, a sloping honey-board, and a drawer-like feeding box beneath, alongside a rear view showing wire-gauze ventilation and a hinged access door.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESAlbert Claypool · January 24, 1871Patent drawing of a peaked-roof wooden bee-hive shown in perspective and in cross-section, revealing internal comb-frames hanging with small triangular guides and a separate honey-frame assembly above.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVES.Samuel Archabald Short, Fredrick Jackson Short, John Bunion Short, and Jasper Kile · March 7, 1871Patent drawing of a wooden bee-hive showing a front elevation with an entrance platform and miller-box below, a longitudinal section with rows of comb-frames labeled D and E, a cross-section detailing the miller trap and bee-perch, and a perspective view of an end comb-frame with a separated back wall.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESRubin Strawser · January 15, 1878Patent drawing of a wooden bee-hive shown in perspective with stacked honey-boxes on top, a hinged front alighting-platform lowered, and detail views of the clamping rack, separators, and button mechanism.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESElvin Armstrong · December 10, 1878Patent drawing of a wooden bee-hive showing a front elevation and cross-section with a peaked roof, a honey-box compartment with glass-covered frames at top, hinged triangular brood-chamber frames below forming an inclined floor, and swinging front and side doors with a diamond-shaped entrance slat.IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-HIVESJames Power Karr · March 4, 1879Patent drawings show a wooden beehive with dovetailed corners, a curved removable roof with a screened vent, glass observation windows on the sides, a hopper-shaped bottom section for catching moths, and a slide-out drawer moth-trap with glass windows beneath legs; two interior cross-section views reveal stacked rows of comb-frames above a funnel-shaped chamber with pans and perforated inclined table.BEE-HIVE.Nathan Lloyd, Sr. · September 4, 1883