A standard hive includes a bottom board, a hive body or two containing frames, several honey supers containing frames, an inner cover and an outer telescoping cover that fits on top. The terms “hive body” and “super” are functionally interchangeable. They are both basically wooden boxes. Normally the “hive body” refers to the larger box placed directly above the bottom board, usually associated with the brood production area. Supers are the boxes that are normally placed above. Supers are available in three sizes; a deep is the largest; a medium, also called an “Illinois,” of intermediate size and a shallow, the smallest size.

-John Skinner, University of Tennessee

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