froggy
New Bee
Hi, how does a Top Bar Hive work ? it looks completely different ! one box only. I have just bought a small one.I need a bit of guidance 
, Terry.
, Terry.
Top Bar Hive
- Thread starter froggy
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What do you mean by small? and what sort of top bar hive? is it what used to be known as a Kenyan Topbar - sort of coffin shaped? if so, quite simple really -it was designed for African subsistence farmers and due to the fact African bees work differently, did not need weekly inspections - the 'top bars' are just pieces of wood with a channel cut in the centre of each where you can put in a starter strip, bead of wax or leave as it is and the bees will build free comb off that, they raise brood off those as per normal with the usual food arch then they will store surplus food stores on the outer combs (just as in a standard brood box when the colony reduces for winter. The beekeeper then just harvests the combs at the outside of the brood nest and extracts the honey using the crush and strain method
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- Too many - but not nearly enough
The most important thing is to make sure the spacings between the channels are correct or the bees will just build comb across more than one topbar making it almost impossible to inspect
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or if it's "small", is it a Warre? I dabbled with the idea of a Warre, but all that nadiring made me think again...
I have mininucs that use topbars - is it that small?
I have mininucs that use topbars - is it that small?
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Length of hive defines a top bar hive (measured across bars).
Under 1 meter is "too small".
1 Meter is "small but adequate for non swarmy bees which don't build big brood numbers"
1.3 Meters is "adequate for most purposes"
1.5 Meters or over is "big".
0.6 Meters or under is not a hive but a nuc in my opinion.
I have most of the above
Under 1 meter is "too small".
1 Meter is "small but adequate for non swarmy bees which don't build big brood numbers"
1.3 Meters is "adequate for most purposes"
1.5 Meters or over is "big".
0.6 Meters or under is not a hive but a nuc in my opinion.
I have most of the above
