Margaret Vinci Heldt "peacefully" died from heart failure in Illinois on Friday, her family has confirmed.
The cone-shaped hairdo was popular among first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and actress Audrey Hepburn in the 1960s.
Heldt ran a salon in Chicago, where she was born, and first debuted the hairstyle for a magazine cover in 1960.
According to the Chicago History Museum, Heldt attended the Columbia College of Hairdressing before opening her own salon.
"She had a zest for life, the most positive attitude," her daughter Carlene Ziegler told Reuters. "She was the life of the party right up to her last days."
In pictures: Best of the beehives
The mannequin Heldt used to make the hairstyle can be seen at the Chicago History Museum.
According to the museum, Heldt wanted the hairstyle to fit under the fez hat, using the hat's shape as an inspiration.
Others who enjoyed the hairstyle including cartoon mother from TV programme The Simpsons, Marge Simpson, music group The Supremes, rock band the B-52s actress Brigitte Bardot and even Beyonce.
English singer Mari Wilson, a famous exponent of the hairstyle, told the BBC World Service that late British singer Amy Winehouse was her favourite beehive-wearer, though hers was a wig.
Wilson said she also loved the women of the 1960s who wore the hairstyle.
"There's something lovely about taking time over your appearance," she said. "It's like not leaving the house without your lipstick."
BBC World Service - The beauty of the beehive
The creator of the "beehive" hairstyle, made popular by many famous women, has died aged 98.