Bee farming in it's current form has been around since  1851 when Langstroth invented the first movable hive to take into account "bee space", which is the amount of space (about 1 cm)  that bees will not build combs in.   This development created bee hives that are not only movable, but that you can harvest honey from without damaging the bee colony.  These hives are called Langstroth Hives.

Why people have bee farms. More on Bee Farming Basics