How to Make a Brick Beehive Oven

Pick a location in your yard for the oven. You'll want to keep the oven away from trees, plants and other vegetation, but also keep it away from your home to reduce the chance of smoke getting inside. Mark the location by running a shovel around the ground. Make the area as big or as small as you want the oven.

Dig a trench around the oven location that's about 24 inches deep and 2 inches wide. Fill the trench with gravel and spread gravel across the grass. Dig a second trench at the back of the location, making the hole at least 12 inches long and 2 inches deep. The second trench serves as a drain-off for the oven.

Mix powdered cement with water in a plastic bucket, creating concrete for the foundation. The concrete should resemble smooth peanut butter. Pour the concrete over the gravel, smoothing it down with a trowel. Check that the concrete is level and let dry.

Mark the location of the oven opening, which is where you'll insert the food. The front should be at least 8 inches wide. Cover the side of the opening with fresh concrete and press a brick on each side with the short side facing out.

Apply a 1-inch thick layer of concrete to the bottom of your foundation. Coat the sides of one fire brick with more concrete and press against the foundation. Work your way around the base, adding more concrete to bricks and pushing the bricks against the foundation and against the other bricks.

Add a second layer of brick to the first layer by applying concrete to the top of the bricks and pressing the other bricks into the wet concrete. When you reach the third layer, move the new bricks back half an inch. Each time you add a new layer, move the bricks in toward the center, which creates the dome shape.

Keep building the brick layers, pushing each layer closer towards the center. When you reach the top of the oven, lay fresh concrete on the edges of the brick. Arrange bricks on top, which forms the top of the oven. Once the concrete completely sets, the oven is ready for use.