Little John
Drone Bee
- Joined
- May 27, 2012
- Messages
- 1,655
- Reaction score
- 4
- Location
- Boston, UK
- Hive Type
- Other
- Number of Hives
- 50+
If anyone should discover after making a Kenyan Top Bar Hive that it really isn't suitable for their style of beekeeping, here is one possible alternative to either selling it or resorting to the use of a box of matches: a simple conversion of a KTBH into a Deep Long Hive, dimensioned for 14"x12" frames.
This example holds a total of 32 14" x 12" frames at 34mm spacing, giving a total comb area well in excess of four standard National brood boxes. Thus, a garden hive with limited potential can very easily be converted into a hive capable of housing two very substantial colonies, and within the same footprint.
All that is required is the addition of a floor and a few trimming battens at the top, with the method of construction being almost identical to that of the Mk.II All-Weather Long Hive.
This is the KTBH I made a few years ago, which seemed like a good idea at the time. However, only one swarm of bees was ever kept in it before I realised it's limitations and changed to using it as a workbench instead. This is the original hive:
My initial intention was to give the KTBH another try and, as I'd been using a sheet of corrugated iron as a roof, I decided it was about time a proper roof was made. So here we are attaching some aluminium cladding to a pitched roof made from pallet wood:
This is how I made the ends - using some scrap plywood as a template:
And this is the aluminium cladding - almost ready to be nailed in place - using the same basic method as that used when making the Long Hive roof:
Having made a decent roof - I then decided it would be worthwhile re-building the KTBH as a Deep Long Hive, as wedges could always be installed onto the sides of such a hive to create the KTBH wedge-shaped combs if I should ever need to make such nucs for anybody. So - the KTBH was duly taken apart:
... and a new floor made, again using the same technique as for the Long Hives:
And here is the result:
This shot shows the back of the hive after a lick of paint, and with the legs bolted on. Aluminium cladding has been attached to the sides, to give added protection from the elements. The bottom of the cladding has been flared outwards to provide a drip edge, and it's sides sealed with silicone rubber.
This shows a less than perfect arrangement of entrance holes, which resulted from adjusting the position of the end plates which was necessary to ensure that the existing hinge points remained functional.
A shot of the inside, showing the OMF strips. The floor and divider were painted as they are made from reclaimed pallet wood which is often prone to swelling otherwise. The walls still have some beeswax and propolis attached, so were left 'as is'.
Detachable webbing straps.
Finished hive - with a darker contrasting stripe added to break-up an otherwise oppressive wall of gray.
The two small Russian 'Alpine' Hives behind this Deep Long Hive will be moved forward to be located near the Long Hive's entrances during the winter, and their occupants then transferred into this Long Hive in early spring.
LJ
This example holds a total of 32 14" x 12" frames at 34mm spacing, giving a total comb area well in excess of four standard National brood boxes. Thus, a garden hive with limited potential can very easily be converted into a hive capable of housing two very substantial colonies, and within the same footprint.
All that is required is the addition of a floor and a few trimming battens at the top, with the method of construction being almost identical to that of the Mk.II All-Weather Long Hive.
This is the KTBH I made a few years ago, which seemed like a good idea at the time. However, only one swarm of bees was ever kept in it before I realised it's limitations and changed to using it as a workbench instead. This is the original hive:
My initial intention was to give the KTBH another try and, as I'd been using a sheet of corrugated iron as a roof, I decided it was about time a proper roof was made. So here we are attaching some aluminium cladding to a pitched roof made from pallet wood:
This is how I made the ends - using some scrap plywood as a template:
And this is the aluminium cladding - almost ready to be nailed in place - using the same basic method as that used when making the Long Hive roof:
Having made a decent roof - I then decided it would be worthwhile re-building the KTBH as a Deep Long Hive, as wedges could always be installed onto the sides of such a hive to create the KTBH wedge-shaped combs if I should ever need to make such nucs for anybody. So - the KTBH was duly taken apart:
... and a new floor made, again using the same technique as for the Long Hives:
And here is the result:
This shot shows the back of the hive after a lick of paint, and with the legs bolted on. Aluminium cladding has been attached to the sides, to give added protection from the elements. The bottom of the cladding has been flared outwards to provide a drip edge, and it's sides sealed with silicone rubber.
This shows a less than perfect arrangement of entrance holes, which resulted from adjusting the position of the end plates which was necessary to ensure that the existing hinge points remained functional.
A shot of the inside, showing the OMF strips. The floor and divider were painted as they are made from reclaimed pallet wood which is often prone to swelling otherwise. The walls still have some beeswax and propolis attached, so were left 'as is'.
Detachable webbing straps.
Finished hive - with a darker contrasting stripe added to break-up an otherwise oppressive wall of gray.
The two small Russian 'Alpine' Hives behind this Deep Long Hive will be moved forward to be located near the Long Hive's entrances during the winter, and their occupants then transferred into this Long Hive in early spring.
LJ
