Abstract: A beehive lifting device (10) lifts beehives (106) by engaging handholds (124). As the beehive (106) is lifted by the lifting device (10), the relationship between the load lifting point (51) and the center of gravity (110) of the beehive (106) causes the beehive lifting device (10) to tilt backward, and causes the beehive (106) to tilt backward toward, or against the folding frame (12) of the beehive lifting device (10). The beehive lifting device (10) is foldable either into a flat package that is disposed parallel to a fourth plane (94) or into a compact bundle that is disposed substantially around an axis (98).