top bee space v bottom bee space

[goonerwin]

what are the advantages/ disadvantages of top bee space over bottom bee space

 

[Poly Hive]

Top makes for faster working and so is favoured by them with more hives.

PH

 

[oliver90owner]

The only downside for me, is putting the boxes down on a flat surface needs to be avoided. Another is using Q/Es which are not rigid.

All the rest are advantages for me. I am with the rest of the world with this, so far in the majority. I do run Nationals.

RAB

 

[Tom Bick]

All I know is from talking to people and similar threads to this in the past people who started out with BBS and have converted to TBS the vast majority if not all say TBS is better and have no desire to go back.

 

[victor meldrew]

Top or bottom, the danger point is the junction of the mating surfaces of boxes, both with each other and floors Q/x's etc.
Care has to be exercised in both cases ! I see no difference in SPEED twixt the two!
To state people running lots of hives prefer top space is an assumption in my view .From whence was this knowledge gleaned ?

JW

 

[richardbees]

Good question!
I've done twenty years with bbs but I decided long ago that if I could rebuild my stock of boxes I'd prefer they were tbs.

I find it impossible to put supers back on the QE without crushing bees, however hard I try....

richard

 

[oliver90owner]

From whence was this knowledge gleaned ?

Prefer Langstroth, use top bee space. A lot more of them, than us wiv Nationals.

I'm not sure about 'speed' aspect, but I am sure there are far more top space hives than bottom space ones.

We now have a polynational which comes as top bee space, so there will be quite a number of National users trying the different format, I am sure. Another three or four years and they will be changing their BBS hives if they have any, I reckon. Can't accurately remember when I changed over - I tried it early on and decided to go for it then, rather than accumulate more BBS kit. Probably the decision was made before my third season.

Care has to be exercised in both cases

Yes, but not so much needed with top space, I think. One does not get so many bees hanging off the bottom of the frames as climbing out between the (generally) closer spaced top bars, and they would be more likely to fall (rather than be decapitated, as is the case with BBS when the boxes are set on at an angle and rotated into position).

Even replacing the Q/E is a more simple job for top bee space, as far as I can see, but would rely on the bees above tending to climb upwards, as we well know they tend to do.

My view and I'm sticking with it!

RAB

 

[Tom Bick]

An interesting observation I have made with the national hive is that of the people I have dealt with the good people of Essex have a high proportion opting for TBS when the average for the rest of the country to be 90+% BBS.

 

[oliver90owner]

the good people of Essex

And the baddies from Essex - which do they prefer?

On a more serious note, is a Commercial TBS or BBS? If TBS, that could be a reason, as the commercial seems to be a popular choice in Essex.

Regards, RAB

 

[Haughton Honey]

It's BBS RAB............!

the good people of Essex

And the baddies from Essex - which do they prefer?

On a more serious note, is a Commercial TBS or BBS? If TBS, that could be a reason, as the commercial seems to be a popular choice in Essex.

Regards, RAB

 

[Hivemaker.]

On a more serious note, is a Commercial TBS or BBS?

BBS.

 

[oliver90owner]

Thanks, both. Thought it most likely was BBS but didn't know for sure.....Back to the drawing board!

Regards, RAB

 

[tonybloke]

To state people running lots of hives prefer top space is an assumption in my view .From whence was this knowledge gleaned ?

JW

Murray told me that his beekeepers can work TBS hives a lot quicker than BBS
He runs over 2000 hives, he ought to know!

 

[Silly Bee]

TBS is particularly good in Winter, so I belive, since bees do not have to go all the way down, to come up the otherside to feed, they simply go over the top, where its warmer.

 

[Skyhook]

TBS is particularly good in Winter, so I belive, since bees do not have to go all the way down, to come up the otherside to feed, they simply go over the top, where its warmer.

Shouldn't make any difference if you're using the right crownboard- a BBS board should have a rim underneath to provide the space.

 

[victor meldrew]

TBS is particularly good in Winter, so I belive, since bees do not have to go all the way down, to come up the otherside to feed, they simply go over the top, where its warmer.

Or round the ends, or over the top as my crown boards have a built in bee space
De Dah De Dah De Dah

John Wilkinson

 

[Poly Hive]

Struan apiaries say the same. 750 hives. TBS. Same reason as Denrosa.

PH

 

[Midland Beek]

The pattern of hive I use is by default TBS, but I think as long as you are using queen excluders which incorporate a bee space the difference between TBS and BBS is minimal.

 

[victor meldrew]

The pattern of hive I use is by default TBS, but I think as long as you are using queen excluders which incorporate a bee space the difference between TBS and BBS is minimal.

JW

 

[Haughton Honey]

Struan apiaries say the same. 750 hives. TBS. Same reason as Denrosa.

PH

Don't Denrosa also sell/use a poly National with bottom bee space....a.k.a the same poly Nationals that I've bought from C W-J previously?

Half of those are stamped 'Denrosa'.