Bees are an incredibly important species, but in recent years they have been suffering – and possibly as a result due to people wanting to do their bit, beekeeping is now an increasingly popular hobby.
By keeping bees, you can help bees survive in the wild while also harvesting the honey and beeswax they give you. And if you are looking for an inexpensive way to start keeping bees, here are 19 plans we found for how to build a DIY beehive.
Table of Contents
1. How to Build a Beehive
In this plan, you will learn how to build a Langstroth beehive, currently the most popular type in use in the US and around the world. The plan gives you details of all the tools and materials required and also provides you with a simple step-by-step guide that anyone with basic woodworking skills will be able to follow. You’ll also find diagrams and detailed measurements, making this an easy plan that just about anyone will be able to replicate at home.
2. How to make a Langstroth Beehive
We love the name of this YouTube channel – it’s called I Like to Make Stuff, and if you like making stuff too, it’s well worth checking out. In this video, you will learn how to make a high-quality Langstroth beehive, and you’ll find all the information and instructions you need to build a similar one yourself. We also like the extra tips and advice included with the video that will help you get started with your bees once your hive is complete.
3. A Sting-Free Guide to Becoming a DIY Beekeeper
This blog entry isn’t really a guide to building a DIY beehive but rather an introduction to the hobby of amateur beekeeping. However, if you are keen budding apiarist, there’s plenty of useful information here that you need to know, so it’s an important read that will help you make the right decisions when the time comes to build your hive and populate it with bees.
4. How to Make a Simple Langstroth Beehive
As we’ve already mentioned, the Langstroth beehive is among the most popular designs, and this plan will teach you how to build your own DIY version. We like this plan because the woodworking techniques it requires are suitable for beginners – there are no box joints or other complicated cuts – so it’s something most people will be able to manage, even those who are more interested in beekeeping than carpentry.
5. Build Your Own Beehive
As this blog explains, there are many great reasons for owning a beehive, including making a bit of extra cash, pollinating your flowers and putting some honey in your cupboard. If you want to save even more cash, you can DIY your own hive, and this plan will show you how to do it using nothing but a few inexpensive materials. Concise yet clearly explained, this is a great plan for anyone who wants to have a go at building a beehive for themselves.
6. How to Make a Beehive
If you want to make a classic beehive, you’ll be looking for a trustworthy plan that shows you how to do it. This video is one such plan that shows you all the steps you’ll need to complete the project. The name of the YouTube channel is Scrap Wood City, so you can imagine that this is a plan that won’t set you back too much cash – and if that sounds like the kind of thing you’re looking for, why not give it a watch?
7. Cheap and Easy DIY Glass Aquarium Beehive
This is an unique design for a DIY beehive since it is made from a repurposed 10-gallon fish aquarium. If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to get into beekeeping – and you happen to have an old fish tank sitting around gathering dust – this could be just the plan you’re looking for. Simple to recreate and highly effective, this is just the kind of DIY project we love.
8. How to Build a Beehive of Your Own
For many people, the beekeeping experience isn’t complete unless you are using a hive you built yourself, and as this blogger explains, if you have some basic carpentry skills, constructing a DIY version is something many people can aspire to. Since bees are more discerning than birds, building a beehive is more involved than building a birdhouse, so there’s a lot of info you need before you start – and this blog gives you all the details. It isn’t a plan in itself, but it’s invaluable reading before you choose a plan and start work, so we thought it merited a place on our list.
9. How to Build a Simple Horizontal Beehive for Under $50
If you’re interested in taking up beekeeping but you don’t want to invest lots of money, this plan is highly recommended. In it, you’ll learn how to make a horizontal beehive that will cost less than $50 – which will allow you to see if you enjoy looking after bees before deciding to put more cash into it.
10. Innovative Homemade Beehive
As many people are now aware, bees are disappearing in alarming numbers, and it is important that we do what we can to help them survive. The beehive in this plan was one man’s attempt to do his part, and his innovative design is one we’re sure many people will want to copy at home. The design is simple, and it’s easy to construct, so if you want to help the bees too, why not have a go?
11. Make Your Own Honey Cow (Top Bar Beehive)
There are many versions of the beehive, and as we have seen, the Langstroth beehive is one of the most popular. However, in this plan, you will learn how to make a simpler model known as the “honey cow” or, more properly, the “top bar” beehive. The plan gives you a list of the tools and materials required along with detailed explanations of what to do. It’s a cheap and easy way to build a beehive, and we’re sure lots of people will enjoy trying.
12. How to Make Your Own Beehive
If you’re looking for an introduction to how beehives function, this video should be of interest. In it, this beekeeper explains the basics of building a beehive and what all the different parts are for, giving you an overview of how the bee colony works. It doesn’t give you detailed instructions about building a hive – but it’s only three minutes long, so it’s worth checking out before you start looking for a plan to follow to build one of your own.
13. DIY Long Langstroth Hive Build
In this YouTube video, you’re given a speeded-up demonstration of the process you’ll need to go through to make a highly professional Langstroth beehive from scratch. It’s fun to watch as the construction takes shape, and by the time he’s finished, it all looks extremely impressive. There’s also a link to the YouTuber’s blog where you can find more details about what you need to do, so if you want to make one of your own, you know where to head!
14. DIY Beehive Frames
This is another video from the DIYer who made the hive in #13, but this time he shows us how to build beehive frames. As with the other video, it’s fascinating to watch – and it’s also very useful for anyone who doesn’t want to spend money paying for new frames each time they need to be replaced.
15. How to Make a DIY Beehive Moisture Board
In this plan, you won’t learn how to make a whole beehive – instead, it teaches you how to make the all-important moisture board that is used to remove excess humidity from your hive. It gives you a list of the materials you’ll need and tells you how to put it together – and there’s also a section on how to use it, making this plan a valuable resource for beekeeping enthusiasts everywhere.
16. How to Build a Langstroth Beehive
Here’s a fun video that teaches you how to make a simple Langstroth beehive. All you’ll need to complete the project are a few common tools, some inexpensive materials and a basic level of woodworking competence. And as the introduction explains, once it’s built, you can simply keep adding to it, so you don’t need to plan everything out carefully right from the start.
17. DIY Beehive
In this plan, you’ll learn how to make a skyscraper of a beehive that will allow you to harvest honey quickly and easily while doing your part to ensure the survival of this most important of insects. The plan is highly detailed, and it tells you everything you need to know to build one of your own. A great read, and a lot of fun to try.
18. How to Build a Simple Beehive
The beehive in this plan is extremely simple, but it just goes to show that bees don’t always mind if they’re not living in a luxury mansion – as long as you provide them with everything they need. The YouTuber recommends buying the frames, but you can check out the video in #14 if you want to learn how to build those too.
19. Easy DIY Beehive for Under $10
To finish, here’s a plan for possibly the least expensive beehive you can make since it costs less than $10. It’s a skep-style beehive, which is an older type that was in use before the invention of the modern beehive. They’re highly decorative, so you might want to make one just because they look nice – but they can be used to keep bees the old-fashioned way too.
Simple, rewarding and fun
Keeping bees is a rewarding hobby, and it’s also a lot of fun. Building a DIY beehive is a relatively simple job for anyone with basic carpentry skills, so we hope we’ve helped you find the plan you needed for building a homemade hive of your own.
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In regard to the Skeps. Most US States, and many countries, have prohibited the use of Skeps. The only way to harvest the honey is to permanently displace (make homeless) or, more often, kill the hive. The Skep must be completely dismantled to collect the honey or, in an alternative process, it is “squeezed” to collect the honey. Skeps were traditionally used until the Victorian Era saw the rise of the Naturalist movement and the awareness of the welfare of animals.
This is a great post! I have been wanting to build a beehive for a while now and this is the perfect guide.
This is a great post! I have been wanting to build a beehive for a while now and this is the perfect guide.
This is a great post! I have been wanting to build a beehive for a while now and this is the perfect guide.