TBH build

[DanBee]

All completely unsubstantiated by any real science of course ... just heresay -or heresy if you listen to some on here - will I be burned at the stake ? Probably !

I was curious as to why you were so emphatic that bees do not like metal, when so much used in hive construction is metal. Nails/screws, wire, runners, excluders, mesh, etc. in steel, brass, zinc, stainless, and historically tinplate.

I suggest you go and have a cup of tea, calm down, and stop looking for a fight where there is none to be had

 

[pargyle]

I was curious as to why you were so emphatic that bees do not like metal, when so much used in hive construction is metal. Nails/screws, wire, runners, excluders, mesh, etc. in steel, brass, zinc, stainless, and historically tinplate.

I suggest you go and have a cup of tea, calm down, and stop looking for a fight where there is none to be had

Never was looking to argue ... just providing my opinion. Always calm me ...

 

[ratcatcher]

Care to elaborate on this...?

it maybe because bees wont build wax on tin foil, it can be hung between top bars to stop cross combing, dont know if its all metals or just ali

 

[Ely]

Is cross comb problems a regular occurence? I'm unsure how 'natural beekeepers' can boast about how unobtrusive to bees this hive lends itself to if you have to forever fix problems thus damaging brood. Or is it just a case of smoothing out the wrinkles and bedding it in. Kinda like a new car, get it running properly. I've been looking at it recently and it occurred to that my tbh would make a rather nice flower bed

 

[pargyle]

Is cross comb problems a regular occurence? I'm unsure how 'natural beekeepers' can boast about how unobtrusive to bees this hive lends itself to if you have to forever fix problems thus damaging brood. Or is it just a case of smoothing out the wrinkles and bedding it in. Kinda like a new car, get it running properly. I've been looking at it recently and it occurred to that my tbh would make a rather nice flower bed

Not generally a major problem ... starter strips and a level hive will normally result in straight comb ... if they start off straight they will usually continue straight.

 

[xanthemara]

I have got a top bar just built it a few months ago. I am having no luck in getting bees for it. Did you get your bees as a swarm or did you buy a nuc. Asking because some people have said it is difficult to get bees for a top bar unless it is a swarm.

 

[drex]

Swarm is best. Can always do a "chop and crop" of frames as on bio bees site

 

[Little John]

You can always hang top bars in a framed hive and get a colony on frameless combs that way.

With a Warre, you can simply plonk a colony in a brood box on top of a Warre box, and wait for them to migrate downwards.


BTW - Delon ran wire-framed hives for many years, currently lots of Russians, Bulgarians, Serbs do the same. I'm about to do likewise.
There's absolutely no evidence to support the claim that bees don't like metal in the hive - it's just somebody's opinion ... which has no foundation.

LJ

 

[beebopalula]

I have got a top bar just built it a few months ago. I am having no luck in getting bees for it. Did you get your bees as a swarm or did you buy a nuc. Asking because some people have said it is difficult to get bees for a top bar unless it is a swarm.

Buy a package of bees - a bit like a swarm in that no comb / brood / food and with a mated queen. P's sell them and Pa@k, others too. Just google it.

 

[Tom Bick]

I run my hives without foundation and wire my frames. Most of the time the bees incorporate the wire no problem but on the odd frame the bees on one side of the frame will go around the wire. I don’t put this down to the bees not liking metal in the hive more they sometimes they make a decision and go with it.

 

[madasafish]

The odd time when bees do not like metal is of course due to ley lines.

I'll put my tin foil hat on now...



Seriously:
Maybe it's the earth magnetism working in one particular congiguration

 

[Little John]

What some folk apparently don't take into account is that metal deposits exist all around us in the natural world, albeit as salts, especially oxides.
Sometimes there are quite significant areas of the stuff: in the marine environment you can easily locate iron-bearing deposits on marine charts, as the areas are marked with 'magnetic anomaly' warnings. As these don't cause problems ashore, maps don't usually have such warnings (afaik).

But - if bees had such an aversion to metal (especially iron) then you'd find identifiable areas of the country denuded of bees - which (again, afaik) isn't the case.

LJ

 

[beebopalula]

What some folk apparently don't take into account is that metal deposits exist all around us in the natural world, albeit as salts, especially oxides.
Sometimes there are quite significant areas of the stuff: in the marine environment you can easily locate iron-bearing deposits on marine charts, as the areas are marked with 'magnetic anomaly' warnings. As these don't cause problems ashore, maps don't usually have such warnings (afaik).

But - if bees had such an aversion to metal (especially iron) then you'd find identifiable areas of the country denuded of bees - which (again, afaik) isn't the case.

LJ

Magnetic anomalies are marked on maps for fell walkers - they cause false compass readings.

 

[AugustC]

As long as the body of the hive is sound that is the main thing.
The roof is really just a weather cover. I have just had to rebuild my roof as the old one demolished itself. As an interim I gaffer taped a piece of plastic over the top and stuffed grass into any cracks. The top bars themselves form the top of the hive.

Having said that, if you leave some space in the roof you can use a double width topbar with a hole in as a route to a rapid feeder on top of the hive. If I remember I'll put a pic on.

 

[Gimlet]

Thankyou. Yip I'm using the plans from biobees. I'm sure I must have some waterproof material knocking around somewhere. Do you have room for insulation in your roof?

Why not just make the roof out of insulation board, that's what I did. It's perfectly waterproof and very light to lift off. With a good overhang for shading the sides it keeps the hive warm in winter and cool in summer.

You can use sticky backed vinyl to cover it if you're worried about the durability.