Nutty Beekeeping?

[MartinL]

Just a thought,

Is there a polystyrene Top bar hive available, (full sized one not Nuc)?

Couldn't find anything in search on Fleabay but did wonder?

 

[oliver90owner]

Doubtful. Not the demand. Using polystyrene insulation outside a bee-resistant inner structure is the way to go, I would think.

 

[pargyle]

Just a thought,

Is there a polystyrene Top bar hive available, (full sized one not Nuc)?

Couldn't find anything in search on Fleabay but did wonder?

I don't think there is one - the tooling for polystyrene mouldings is expensive and I very much doubt that the volume of sales would warrant the cost of the moulds and the production run. Top bar hives tend to be of simple timber construction, by their nature, cheap and I can't see any commercial viability in anyone producing a poly version in the near future. Having said that - the success of flow hive sales (not the success of usage !) has demonstrated that there are lots of people prepared to part with huge amounts of money for something that I believed was a moribund idea - so I may well be wrong !!!

 

[Motobiman]

There are overseas manufacturers making hives out of dense machined poly sheet material.

Why not ask one of them if they would look into it?

Might be a gap in the market.

 

[bontbee]

I was kindly given a flimsy wooden one so encased it in xtratherm - skewered, glued, ali-taped and painted. Hope that will do the job.

 

[Motobiman]

Dont see why a laminated ply and poly top bar hive wouldn't be useable.

Making the top width the same as a national frame would mean cutting drawn frames down would be a doddle as well.

I did see a half round TBH in Kenya that I think was made from a piece of scrap bright yellow split gas pipe or similar about 600 or 750 dia by about 1200 long and whilst I realise African bees are not the same, still it clearly worked for them/him.

They do seem to readily take up residence just about anywhere so I wonder if it's just us that are so picky.

 

[Motobiman]

I was kindly given a flimsy wooden one so encased it in xtratherm - skewered, glued, ali-taped and painted. Hope that will do the job.

Seeing where your based, hope it's waterproof too.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Just a thought,

Is there a polystyrene Top bar hive available, (full sized one not Nuc)?

If you're even vaguely good at woodwork you should be able to make one. Clad it with Kingspan or similar and you'll have a nice warm hive.

Better still, and if you're much better at woodwork, copy pargyl's idea and make a well insulated long deep hive that's suitable for frames. Chances are you'll still be using it in several years time, whereas a top bar will have been consigned to the bonfire!

 

[bontbee]

.....a top bar will have been consigned to the bonfire!

Just using the above as a prompt...are there many differences managing the wild comb in, say, a Kieler mini nuc and a top bar? Principles the same(?), just a bigger scale???

Any advice very gratefully received. Ta

 

[Finman]

There are overseas manufacturers making hives out of dense machined poly sheet material.

Why not ask one of them if they would look into it?

Might be a gap in the market.

There is a gap on market, where you may pour your money.

Mind a gap...

 

[Finman]

There are overseas manufacturers making hives out of dense machined poly sheet material.

Why not ask one of them if they would look into it?

Might be a gap in the market.

You may saw an usual hive box oblique so that you get a poly top bar hive.
Use PU glue and screws. Then you have tough material what bees or ants cannot chew.

 

[MartinL]

What about a polystyrene box that could be adapted??
Military box/case with lid? probably piles of them down the missile range?