What the heck is in the hive.

We have 2 basic hives.  They are Langstroth hives.  This design was created by the Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth in 1851, and was actually patented by him in 1852.  See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langstroth_hive for more history.
The basic parts are:
The bottom board
The deep body with the frames
Later we add another deep and also supers for more honey production
The top board and
The telescoping lid.

Here is the bottom board.  It's made with a screen on it and a removable white card.  This allows us to have better ventilation for the hive and to check for problems like mites.  The front of it is the landing area for the bees.

 

 The deep is the main living area for the bees.  It has ten frames in it for the bees to build the comb.

This is what a frame looks like.  The foundation is made of a sheet of plastic with the bees wax comb already laid out for the bees to start building on.

The foundation already has the comb design on it.  The bees will start with this to build the comb and it ends up much more organized later for harvest.

The top board is added to the top so the bees don't glue shut the lid and make it almost impossible to open up the hive for inspection and later harvest.

This is the lid for the hive.  It makes it much more private for the bees, and warmer.