TOP BARE HIVEs

[jallen]

seems an intresteting route to go down but what are thay like in reality eney info would be welcomed joe

 

[drstitson]

Top BARE Hives

i was hoping this thread would have some interesting pictures!!!!

i'll get my coat

 

[susbees]

We have six htbh, four three feet and two four feet (five in current use) alongside rather more commercial box hives. For people who want a comb of honey for the house from time to time, not to have to lift and lug heavy boxes due to back problems etc, aren't obsessed with yield then they are an inexpensive route into beekeeping and great to watch bees do it their way.

Certainly the bees like them. We have only ever smoked one once and the bees multiply comparably to the commercials.

However, you do need to make the bars the right width and level the hive well. The three foot ones aren't big enough for prolific bees, the four foot roofs a little cumbersome unless you have long arms.

 

[susbees]

i was hoping this thread would have some interesting pictures!!!!

i'll get my coat

Good idea..... Now you come to mention it we do know a beekeeper who posed nekkid against a hive for an "occupations" article in a bear magazine. And I mean bear. I ought to add I haven't seen it. Would have put me off my popcorn.

 

[jallen]

lol sorry about the title

 

[Mike a]

How about for a change how not to transfer a colony from a frame hive to a top bar hive.

I guess the owner decided he/she didn't want to cut the side bars off the frames and place the combs in as they should of been parallel with the top bars, but chose to simply place the frames in on the mesh floor and against the walls and left the colony to get on with it....

What a mess !

 

[DanBee]

Certainly the bees like them. We have only ever smoked one once and the bees multiply comparably to the commercials.

There is a lot of myth, religion, and fashion surrounding the TBH. One particular myth is that a certain size/shape of container makes them happier/less swarmy/less prone to diseases*; the irony is that the shape and orientation of the container du jour is not one that they'd naturally encounter in the wild.

* delete as applicable

At the end of the day it's a box that you put bees in. If the bees are calm, they'll be calm in a TBH; if they're angry, they'll still be angry. So much of observed temperament is down to good/bad handling, and because of the fragility of TBH combs you have to adopt gentle handling or clear up the mess, unlike the way some beekeepers rattle and bang through boxes of frames.

However, you do need to make the bars the right width and level the hive well. The three foot ones aren't big enough for prolific bees, the four foot roofs a little cumbersome unless you have long arms.

This is one of the biggest gripes I have with the 'TBH movement' - in their rush to be different, they've chucked out the baby with the bathwater and are having to rediscover and redevelop basic concepts such as bee space, frame spacing, use of starter strips, optimum box sizes, modularity, etc. So much of the TBH discussions revolve around brace comb, cross-drawing, and width and style of top bars as fundamental barriers to effective, enjoyable, and non-destructive inspections. OK, it can be great fun to try something different, but is it really necessary to re-invent basic concepts like frame spacing?

 

[jallen]

not trying to join the revolution lol just wana try something new lol

 

[Brosville]

What I find (as a TBH and Warre user) is the amount of ignorant and often extremely venemous guff spouted by some "conventional beekeepers" who have little or no grasp of the hives or their management.
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that bees tend to be far more "laid back" in a TBH of some sort. A great deal of discussion takes place in (more) natural beekeeping circles over the minutiae of hive design, and nothing is set in concrete, it is an "evolving" type of beeekeeping.
As for "less disease" - if there is less disease, it'll be more to do with with management techniques rather than shape of the hive - I'd suggest that another problem is when people try to run a "natural" hive the same way as most people run a National.
My instincts led me in the direction of "tbh" beekeeping, and to date I've been repaid by the fact that it suits me - I have hives that are both *cheap and easy to make and run, and I get sufficient wax and honey for my needs - I can ask no more....

*So far, my TOTAL expenditure has been around £250 for everything, hives, bees, and all my gear..........

What would I advise? - especially if you lean towards "do it yourself", and aren't too worried about maximising production, "more" natural beekeeping has a lot to offer, and is an avenue well worth exploring

 

[Ellem]

Ours seem to be doing OK so far. I can handle the roof or the 4 foot on my own (a well placed handle or two helps massively) and I have mobility issues. Since my husband has back issues as well (not helped by his being over 6'7") we thought we'd try a hTBH as honey production wasn't the major issue, compared to enjoyability of the hobby (which would have been hampered by problems with backs and joints with a standard hive).

 

[jallen]

thanks all looks like a top bar hive is gona be my next D.I.Y project

 

[Brosville]

there are some really good free plans dowloadable from "a certain other forum" (not the psychedelic joke that doesn't work and has lost it's apostrophe) - the other one!

 

[Friar Tuck]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9435

my tbh is awesome best hive i have !!!

 

[BKF Admin]

there are some really good free plans dowloadable from "a certain other forum" (not the psychedelic joke that doesn't work and has lost it's apostrophe) - the other one!

Brosville is right.
Just type in Google "Biobees"

 

[jallen]

`thanks admin

 

[viridens]

I built a bare TBH recently. Pretty straightforward. The bees seem to like it too.
Note. I didn't like the 'Bambi on ice' splayed-out legs of the standard design. Having tripped over them a few times (before the bees were installed) I replaced them with straight legs at each corner, and the hive is still very stable.
I als note that other TBH sites say that after trials, they find no difference in comb attachment to hive walls whether a triangular (sloped sides) or rectangular (straight sides) trough is used. I have a colony in a top-barred rectangular storage crate to try this out at the moment.

 

[Ellem]

I built a bare TBH recently. Pretty straightforward. The bees seem to like it too.
Note. I didn't like the 'Bambi on ice' splayed-out legs of the standard design. Having tripped over them a few times (before the bees were installed) I replaced them with straight legs at each corner, and the hive is still very stable.
I als note that other TBH sites say that after trials, they find no difference in comb attachment to hive walls whether a triangular (sloped sides) or rectangular (straight sides) trough is used. I have a colony in a top-barred rectangular storage crate to try this out at the moment.

I have to say that is one thing, I'd consider doing what they call a Tanzanian (rectangular) rather than Kenyan (sloped sides) TBH next time, purely for convenience as it is our only hive atm and we'd be scuppered if we need a spare frame of brood. My thought was that if I built the Kenyan so I could fit National frames in it then I could borrow a frame of brood from a friend if there was ever the need.

 

[ringtor]

Top bare hives

I have two rectangular TBHs. I chose TBH because I am elderly and find supers too heavy. Rectangular because I got annoyed (bees too) with the brace comb so I changed to deep frames without foundation - just a 1cm strip at the top to get them started.
The hive is easy to check and the bees are very quiet and don't seem to mind me moving the bars apart. I get 2/3 bars of honey each year which is less than a conventional hive but enough for me.
I think the two hives cost me about £40 but the frames have been expensive!

 

[oliver90owner]

they find no difference in comb attachment to hive walls whether a triangular (sloped sides) or rectangular (straight sides) trough is used.

Back to a National, or similar, but just no foundation, then? Dartington is closest?

Add a couple of support wires to each frame and they are sooo similar that they might as well be the same!

RAB

 

[viridens]

they find no difference in comb attachment to hive walls whether a triangular (sloped sides) or rectangular (straight sides) trough is used.

Back to a National, or similar, but just no foundation, then? Dartington is closest?

Add a couple of support wires to each frame and they are sooo similar that they might as well be the same!

RAB

If the frames are 1-1/4" wide and pushed up together, there is little difference. BUT don't forget that some keepers here have migrated to 'long box' TBHs to avoid the need to lift boxes off before inspecting etc. (see post 18).