Where is everybody?

[AugustC]

Are there actually any top bar bee keepers who use this forum?
I am curious as I swing by here once in a while and there is no where near the activity for this hive type as with other forums.

 

[enrico]

I can think of a good reason for that but don't want to sound rude! There are loads of tbh owners on here..... They will be along in a minute!
E

 

[itma]

Well, that new convert JBM is still away, playing with his in Lesotho ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well, that new convert JBM is still away, playing with his in Lesotho ...

Horses for courses Dougal - the African top bar hive belongs in, err Africa!
As soon as I set my feet on good Welsh soil (Heathrow will do - it was Welsh until the English stole it.) I'll grow up and pack away all this top bar nonsense and get going with expanding the Brynmair Empire on good old British Standard Modified, until perchance I go again down here.

The name of the hive has evolved BTW being more 'inclusive' it has gone from the Kenyan Top Bar hive to the African Top Bar and as from my workshop last week it has been rebranded here as the 'BBB' - the Basutho Bee Box!!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I can think of a good reason for that but don't want to sound rude! There are loads of tbh owners on here..... They will be along in a minute!
E

I thought as they all lived in Tipis or Mongolian Yurts they had restricted access to t'internet - electrickery only being available in cuckoo land on bath nights (once a quarter!)

 

[enrico]

Maybe I was being hopeful!

 

[AugustC]

Horses for courses Dougal - the African top bar hive belongs in, err Africa!

That's funny I thought it was developed in Canada. But then I guess I tend to learn about something first before having an extreme opinion about it.

 

[MartinL]

Are there actually any top bar bee keepers who use this forum?
I am curious as I swing by here once in a while and there is no where near the activity for this hive type as with other forums.

What "other forums" are there?

 

[masterBK]

AugustC is partly correct . The Kenyan top bar hive originated in Kenya under the direction of Canadian bee researcher Dr.Maurice V. Smith, sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency.

 

[beebopalula]

That's funny I thought it was developed in Canada. But then I guess I tend to learn about something first before having an extreme opinion about it.

Agree (after considering MBK post). However, HTB hives do not do well in cold climates - surface area too big and if using a mesh floor, vulnerable to chilling winter winds.

 

[davnig]

with the attitudes displayed here it's not surprising they stay away

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That's funny I thought it was developed in Canada.

Silly me - should have known with a name like Kenyan top bar. Read about them learnt about them, know wherew they should be used - now teaching people how to use them - in Africa!

 

[enrico]

with the attitudes displayed here it's not surprising they stay away

Just joking really......but do wonder why we redesign a hive that works into something which just seems to make life more difficult! Any ideas davnig?

 

[itma]

Just joking really......but do wonder why we redesign a hive that works into something which just seems to make life more difficult! Any ideas davnig?

E, not quite sure what you're on about, but one of the design considerations of the "Kenyan Top Bar Hive" was the ability to hoist the thing off the ground (typically up a tree) to protect the hive structure from termites and the colony within from predators - significant considerations in large parts of Africa, but irrelevant in the UK.
I wouldn't advise trying to hoist a national plus a few supers up a tree (let alone a WBC!)

 

[pargyle]

However, HTB hives do not do well in cold climates - surface area too big and if using a mesh floor, vulnerable to chilling winter winds.

Well ... That's not strictly true ... I have a Long Deep Hive which has 25 14x12 frames ... highly insulated with a full mesh floor (albeit protected from draughts) and its done very well over this winter. I think such a generalisation probably does not do justice to the many people who have top bar hives of all types ... the only difference between a Top Bar Hive and the many conventional hives is that they only have top bars not frames ... if it were true that the surface area was too big then the problem lies with the beekeeper not the hive ... insulation, dummy boards, top insulation - same as you would in a conventional hive if the colony wasn't big enough to fill it.

Just uninformed claptrap being repeated ad infinitum until everyone believes it ... there's a lot of that goes on in beekeeping I have found !

 

[pargyle]

Just joking really......but do wonder why we redesign a hive that works into something which just seems to make life more difficult! Any ideas davnig?

Cheap, can be made from scraps of reclaimed timber without the need for immense accuracy and without special tools, no need to worry about bee space, no costly frames or foundation, bees seem to like them as they do well in them ... there's more but perhaps I'm just p*ssing in the wind.

And why don't I have one ? (well I had three but the reality was that, as a new beekeeper, the desire to inspect the bees and my ham fistedness led me to convert the last to a framed hive as an easier option to inspect). Other than that ... they have some merit.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Other than that ... they have some merit.

...............in Africa!

Cost of Mark I BBB (Basutho Bee Box) which I built to show the farmers :
Not having the time to spend cutting top bars I paid a carpenter to do them for me - 200 Maloti for 25 (twelve quid)
Any timber being like gold dust here (even firewood in short supply) one second hand 'good quality' pallet - 40 malotti (two pound thirty six)
Other materials - a handful of rusty nails and a piece of tin sheet, tarpaulin or PVC for waterproofing.
Tools needed: one hand saw, one hammer (although a jemmy/crowbar would have been handy!)
Even with cutting your own top bars, construction time less than two hours.
Regular inspections - optional
Extraction crush and strain thus no expensive equipment needed; in lesotho the method is to break up the comb into the middle of a clean cloth, gather in the sides then wring like a wet towel.
Swarm control - like skep beekeeping it's a means of making increase - so your neighbour could benefit.
People live with bees in house walls and roofs here and just get on with it; Inadequate swarm control in the UK is both inconsiderate and ant-social.
No chemicals used in treatment - I don't advocate the use of hydrocarbon based chemicals on the bees (no sugar dusting!)

 

[pargyle]

...............in Africa!

'Methinks he protests too much' ... I reckon you might become a closet top bar beekeeper after your success over there .... I've got a few good pallets you can have when you get back !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

'Methinks he protests too much' ... I reckon you might become a closet top bar beekeeper after your success over there .... I've got a few good pallets you can have when you get back !

Don't worry - I have an aversion to open toed sandals, excessive body odour and loose flowing garments in primary colours!

As I told prince Seeiso and the trade and industry minister over pre-dinner drinkies last night I don't mind dabbling in the dark arts over here, but as soon as i return home, I'm sure the force will find me again!

 

[pargyle]

Don't worry - I have an aversion to open toed sandals, excessive body odour and loose flowing garments in primary colours!

As I told prince Seeiso and the trade and industry minister over pre-dinner drinkies last night I don't mind dabbling in the dark arts over here, but as soon as i return home, I'm sure the force will find me again!

It will just creep up on you .... wanna buy a BeeGym ? I could do you a very fair deal ?