How does a top bar beehive work?
- Finds the Old Queen and moves the Brood comb where she's at and 2 other brood combs to a new hive. ...
- Moves 2 honey combs (and the bees on these combs) and places one on each side of the brood combs.
- Inserts empty bars at the ends.
What is a top bar hive?
Top bar hives have been around for a long time, in fact, some suggest the design is hundreds of years old. Experts found evidence of its use dating back to 1686, in Greece. Of course, those were not identical to the top bar hives we have today, but the basic concepts are the same. Top bar hives offer a very basic way of keeping bees.
What is the heaviest bar of hives you can lift?
With top bar hives, the heaviest bar you’ll have to lift will probably be around three to seven pounds. Before we get started, there’s one fact you should be aware of. There are actually two types of top bar hives—the Kenyan and Tanzanian. Although these differ a little in terms of design, they consist of the same components.
What happens to the mites in a top bar hive?
When the bees build their cells the natural size, which they will do in the top bar hive, they’re just the right size for the developing honeybee. As the honeybee grows, it will fill its cell so completely that often any varroa mites in the cell will die for lack of room.
What are the pros and cons of top bar hives?
I’ll sum up the Pros of Top Bar Hives in three areas: Weight, Simplicity, and Access. Weight — When compared to lifting a full Langstroth Deep Body, Top Bars are feather weights. A Deep can hit close to 100 pounds while a normal Top Bar is probably going to max out around 15, maybe 20 pounds. At the most.
How does a top bar bee hive work?
1:106:13Introduction to Top Bar Bee Hives - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipEverything is at waist. Level the bees are growing on these slats. Right here. And as you'll see inMoreEverything is at waist. Level the bees are growing on these slats. Right here. And as you'll see in a minute they build that comb down from that slat.
Are top bar hives good?
With a top bar hive, there are no “extra” boxes to store during winter. This will help reduce the likelihood of wax moths overwintering in your hives. The bees inside a top bar beehive overwinter better than bees inside a Langstroth hive.
How do you start bees in a top bar hive?
Fill the feeder with sugar water and place it in the entrance of the hive so the bees can access it from inside the hive. It is best to feed your bees sugar water at least twice a week for the first three weeks. After that, feed them once a week until they fill one comb with honey.
How do top hive feeders work?
A hive top feeder doubles as the outer cover and requires no inner cover. This unique feature means the feeder does not sit inside the hive and, therefore, does not require the opening of the hive to replenish the syrup. Rather, a jar is filled with syrup and fitted with a lid containing a few small feeding holes.
What is the advantage of a top bar hive?
Better Overwintering. Because the top bar hive is horizontal, it holds heat much better than the Langstroth hive, and this makes it easier for the bees to overwinter. During cold weather, bees have to actively work to keep the hive warm. To provide the energy to do so, they consume honey.
Do you need a queen excluder in a top bar hive?
Queen excluders are not a typical component of top bar hives. Natural queen exclusion happens due to the design of the hives. Top bar hives cause bees to store honey in one section of the available space and brood in another area.
How many bees are in a top bar hive?
When you install bees into your top bar hive, you want to give them only about 10 bars of empty space at first. This is a large enough space to make them feel comfortable, but not too large for them to manage.
How do you extract honey from a top bar hive?
2:016:14Top Bar Hive Honey Harvest by Jon Peters - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd you can see my knife blade here and this is what i'm using to try to cut the comb. Away from theMoreAnd you can see my knife blade here and this is what i'm using to try to cut the comb. Away from the side of the hive. Now the interesting thing is the bees don't seem to be attaching.
Can you put frames in a top bar hive?
0:0617:28Making Top Bar Brood Frame - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWhat is unusual here is top bar beehives don't typically have frames they support the come from aMoreWhat is unusual here is top bar beehives don't typically have frames they support the come from a top bar. We're just constructing a frame that will fit into a top bar beehive.
How do I keep bees from drowning in my top feeder?
0:003:16Bees drowning? Best hack to prevent it~How I Did It~ - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd then obviously the lid. So simply take two paper towels and you're going to create like a littleMoreAnd then obviously the lid. So simply take two paper towels and you're going to create like a little floating donut you won't even need the entire length of the two paper towels.
How do you use a top feeder?
It's important for all beekeepers to use a top feeder for bees, as it's something you'll likely need to use eventually. To use a hive top feeder, simply place it on top of the upper box, aligning it with the hole in the inner cover. Some top feeder designs even allow you to use more than one feeder at a time.
How does a bee entrance feeder work?
Entrance Feeder The bees access the food through holes in the lid of the inverted jar. One advantage of the entrance feeder is that the level of syrup remaining is visible from the outside the hive, avoiding the need to open the beehive to check.
Why do bees need a top bar hive?
The top bar hive helps reduce this whole problem in a very simple but effective way. When the bees build their cells the natural size , which they will do in the top bar hive, they’re just the right size for the developing honeybee.
Why is the top bar hive better than the Langstroth hive?
Because the top bar hive is horizontal, it holds heat much better than the Langstroth hive, and this makes it easier for the bees to overwinter. During cold weather, bees have to actively work to keep the hive warm. To provide the energy to do so, they consume honey. The Langstroth hive acts almost like a chimney.
How does a Langstroth hive work?
To provide the energy to do so, they consume honey. The Langstroth hive acts almost like a chimney. It is a stack of boxes, and since heat rises, most of the warm air rises to the top. This makes it hard for the bees to keep the lower sections of the Langstroth hive warm.
How to keep bees in Langstroth hives?
To keep bees with Langstroth hives, you’ll need a place to store this equipment, along with the extra hive boxes, and the frames and combs from which you extracted the honey, until you are ready to use them again. Storing the combs also invites a problem with wax moths.
How to harvest honey from a top bar hive?
All you have to do is cut the honey comb off of the starter strip with a kitchen knife, mash it to open up the honey cells and use cheesecloth as a strainer to separate the wax from the honey.
How does a top bar bee hive differ from a Langstroth bee hive?
The top bar hive differs from the Langstroth both in how the bees build their combs and in how we harvest the honey. Top bar hives have a protective roof. Under that roof, along the top of the hive, are 24 removable wooden bars. (That’s what gives the hive its name.)
What is the best hive for bees?
Even if you’ve never kept bees yourself, you’ve probably seen Langstroth hives. Although Langstroths are the most widely used hive among commercial and hobbyist beekeepers, there’s another type of hive which offers a number of important advantages, particularly to the homesteader or small-scale beekeeper. This is the top bar hive.
What is a top bar hive?
We talk a lot about top bar hives over here at Bee Built, and for good reason!
Where do I get a top bar hive?
Our favorite top bar hive is the Golden Mean Hive, crafted by our friends at Backyard Hive. After noticing how productive bees were in hives built in the “Golden Mean” proportion, Corwin Bell developed this hive which inspires productive and healthy hive colonies.
How do I install my bees?
When you get your bees you should install them at one end of the hive with the follower boards spaced so that 8-12 bars are accessible to the colony.
How do I manage a top bar hive?
Bees are remarkably intelligent creatures--they’ve been minding their own beeswax for millennia. What does this mean for beekeepers? It means that caring for bees requires “less work than a dog, more than a goldfish.”
What should I be doing in the winter?
As winter approaches, make sure your hive has sufficient honey stores (about 30-50 lbs here in Portland, Oregon). During winter, a small population of bees ball up at the center of the hive, moving through as a group and eating honey and pollen stores.
How do I harvest honey?
Honey harvest in a top bar hive is straightforward and requires few tools. Simply cut the comb from the top bars, crush it, and strain it. For more details on honey harvesting from a top bar hive, click here.
Top Bar Hives
Don’t you love the Internet. I followed various links on bee blogs and found myself browsing the Dave Loveless site, an Alaskan beekeeper. I posted a comment and to cut a long story short this resulted in him offering to write a few words on his experiences of the horizontal Top Bar Hive (TBH).
Pros of Top Bar Hives
I’ll sum up the Pros of Top Bar Hives in three areas: Weight, Simplicity, and Access.
Cons
On the negative side, I would suggest that this can be summed up in several key areas: Experience, Difficulty and Size.
Conclusion
When it comes right down to it, Top Bars like any other hive is a matter of style, preference, and goals. For my dad, the weight issues and the desire to keep bees in a simple, observable way, made a top bar with a window an easy choice, but it is not the right choice for every beekeeper.
Useful Books & Products
Whilst building your own TBH is to be encouraged (it’s part of the initiation process), if you are like me, this is not an option. These products below might be helpful:
Read More
You might want to read some natural beekeeping guides: UK guides / USA guides.
What is top bar beekeeping?
Top-bar beekeeping is for both urban and rural dwellers who want to keep bees on a modest scale, producing honey and beeswax . Above all, top-bar beekeeping is for people who love bees and understand and appreciate their role in the pollination of many wild and cultivated plants. -Advertisement-. If your goal is to obtain ...
How to calm bees in a hive?
Instead of using a smoker to calm the bees when you open the hive to inspect bees or harvest honey, you can use a hand-held spray bottle containing water and, perhaps, a few drops of a mixture of essential oils or cider vinegar. Top-Bar Hive Design.
How to harvest honey from a bar?
The actual process of harvesting honey is simple: Take one comb at a time, cut it from the bar and replace the bar for the bees to build more comb. Take only a few bars of honey in summer, leaving a surplus for winter. Then harvest more the following spring after winter is over.
What is the best way to keep bees?
Keeping Bees: Using the Top-Bar Beekeeping Method. Conventional methods of keeping bees are effective, but top bar beekee ping is simpler, less expensive, gives bees a greater degree of freedom, and still leaves you with honey and pollinated crops. By Phil Chandler. In top bar beekeeping, the comb must be handled carefully so it doesn’t break away ...
What do bees store in their combs?
The queen bee lays eggs in this comb, and the bees store some pollen (their protein source) and honey in the comb. Other wooden boxes, called “supers,” with (usually) smaller frames, are stacked on top to store most of the honey crop.
What do you need to do after a bee hive is in place?
After the hive is in place, the heaviest lifting you will need to do is to remove the roof. For free, detailed plans, see How to Build a Top-bar Hive. Managing a Top-Bar Hive. In many ways, managing a top-bar hive is easier than managing a framed hive — but you can’t ignore the bees completely.
How wide are bee hives?
The hives are 18 inches wide (outside measurement at the top) by 12 inches deep, measured at the ends. The trapezoidal shape is close to the natural shape of the comb. It’s strong and virtually eliminates attachment of comb to the sides of the hive — a useful feature for the beekeeper.
Comparing A Top Bar Hive To A Langstroth Hive
A top-bar hive is a more natural hive shape. If we look at a wild hive, they arrange their combs along a lengthwise axis. This means that the roof of the hive is a natural barrier to the loss of heat from the brood nest.
Types Of Top Bar Hives
There are so many types of top bar hives out there. The reason for this is that a top bar hive is a non-standardized unit. A Langstroth hive has a standard design that has a specific specification sheet for all measurements. Much like a Langstroth hive, a top bar hive employs bee space – however, this is where the similarity ends.
Beautiful Designs
A top bar hive looks nice in your garden. This is a particularly beautiful hive. Made from Ceder wood – which is naturally weatherproof wood, the build quality is exceptional. Ceder wood is one of my favorite timbers – it does not warp much, and it does not rot.
Top Bar Hive With Langstroth Frames
If you want to have a horizontal hive, but use Langstroth frames, you can design a square “horizontal” hive. This has some advantages as the bees love the lack of vertical dimensions in the hive, and you can still extract honey. With a normal top bar hive, you have to cut comb honey but cannot spin the combs as the combs have no reinforcing wires.
Top Bar Hive and Bee Genetics
Top bar hives typically have an entrance at one, or both ends of the box. Side entrances do not work. The bees are able to easily ventilate hives which have end entrances. The bees will reduce and expand the entrance holes as needed using propolis.
Top Bar Bee Hive Ventilation
I have had friends who have tried to keep races such as Italian bees in Top Bar hives in northern locations. This appeared to be a lot of work, as they had to keep sealing and unsealing entrance holes. These bees struggle to do this on their own.
