The Beehive & Bee Equipment Patent Archive

The patented pursuit of the perfect hive

19th century beekeeping patent

A cutaway drawing of a peaked-roof wooden apiary building shows rows of beehives inside insulated double walls, a central hatchway leading down to an underground pit, and a roof flue with a cowl for venting warm air, with an inset labeled X detailing a post resting in a tar-filled cup to keep out vermin.IMPROVEMENT IN APIARY.William Faulkner · February 4, 1868Patent drawing of a wooden beehive with two grated entrance plates (Fig. 1), a circular passage plate with four elongated slots labeled B (Fig. 2), and a cross-section strip showing rounded slot edges labeled D (Fig. 3).IMPROVEMENT IN GRATED ENTRANCES TO BEE-HIVES.John S. Harbison · January 11, 1876Patent drawing showing a wooden box with two stacked honey-box compartments on internal bars, a slotted side panel, and a tapering wire-gauze funnel tube projecting outward for bees to exit.IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR REMOVING BEES FROM HONEY-BOXESJames Wash · April 2, 1878