Anyone tried or have comments on this..........

[philipm]

It always makes me laugh when I hear people saying they are in the middle of nowhere and swarms are not a problem to others. If you live somewhere like Finny then this is probably the case but in this country its only very remote areas where it could apply and even then I have my doubts.

 

[user 6228]

For heat retention I would try and have the entrances as low as possible and look at placing plastic sheet across the tops of the frames, that you can peel back, rather than leaving an open gap between the frames and the cover. The thermal advantage of some top bar hives is the top bars form a continous insulating roof that stops convection across the top of the frames. By dividing the openspace in the nest into single intercomb slices, these top bar hives reduce the thermal losses one would expect of them. (besides that what you have in trees)

 

[gmonag]

... I don't do it myself but I do urge folk who keep bees amongst neighbours to clip queens' wings too

I know that is a contentious issue and I intially thought I would not do it either but it has saved me from losing a swarm on more than one occasion. It is not that the inspection period can be extended, but rather that when the swarm issues (as it inevitably will, when I miss the signs) it will fail and return to the hive. Because my hives are close by, in the garden, I can then take action to keep the bees. It is even possible to find the clipped queen on the ground outside the hive and pop her back in.

 

[Finman]

. It is even possible to find the clipped queen on the ground outside the hive and pop her back in.

When you get the queen, it is best to put it into artificial swarm box with One brood comb.

 

[user 819]

Maybe gmonag has typed incorrectly the end sentence ?

 

[gmonag]

When you get the queen, it is best to put it into artificial swarm box with One brood comb.

What I have done, a couple of times, is to cage the queen after picking her up, wave her around in the air whilst the swarm is still airborne and then bring it down to her in a nuc box. Easiest swarm capture ever!

 

[North End Bees]

Is it ? Ive attended a swarm call that cost a life.
Had i met the "natural beekeeper" that day who lost them , he'd have arrived at the pearly gates a few hours ahead of the householder.

Do you know it was a 'natural beekeeper'?
I'm only saying because even the most conscientious beekeepers still lose swarms on occasion. Sometimes they are genuinely unavoidable.

 

[madasafish]

When I started beekeeping using TBHs , I learned all my handling skills ( perhaps the wrong word?) at our local Association Apiary using nationals.

I suggest to the OP he goes down that learning route (not using Nationals at home) because that way he will have some basic knowledge of how to handle bees. With that basic knowledge he can apply it as he wishes to management of whatever type of hive he has..

I did that . I ignored a lot of irrelevant issues like how you inspected combs by turning them around as with no foundation or wiring TBH combs are fragile when hot and break easily - and definitely will if held with comb horizontal.

But in the end of the day, I was on my own. I read a lot and made my own way. Any books on TBH hives generally were poor at describing how you USE one as opposed how to Make one (which is very easy).

 

[drex]

Totally agree with masasafish. I was glad that I had built up my skills on conventional framed hives, before taking on top bars. I run two kenyan's and a Warré, which I run on minimal intervention, just for my own interest, but my production hives are all Nationals. I still learn a lot from my top bar hives.

 

[pargyle]

I can remember Heidi posting pictures of her Sunhive(s) strung up in some kind of open roofed summer house without any sides. It has stuck in my mind. It looked lovely.

I always envied her: try doing that here in winter and the roof would be in the fields. ( I think she lives in the warmer south of the UK.)

I didn't realise that a lot of the media items on the old forum that could no longer be seen seem to have been transferred and reactivated ... I just found Heidi Hermanns media tree ... You don't have to agree with her methods of keeping bees but some of her photos are very uplifting on a dank, depresssing November morning ...

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/members/sunhivebee.2938/#xfmgMedia

 

[Erichalfbee]

I didn't realise that a lot of the media items on the old forum that could no longer be seen seem to have been transferred and reactivated ... I just found Heidi Hermanns media tree ... You don't have to agree with her methods of keeping bees but some of her photos are very uplifting on a dank, depresssing November morning ...

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/members/sunhivebee.2938/#xfmgMedia

They certainly do look pretty

 

[North End Bees]

I didn't realise that a lot of the media items on the old forum that could no longer be seen seem to have been transferred and reactivated ... I just found Heidi Hermanns media tree ... You don't have to agree with her methods of keeping bees but some of her photos are very uplifting on a dank, depresssing November morning ...

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/members/sunhivebee.2938/#xfmgMedia

Thanks for posting. Definitely uplifting