Your views on Top Bar hives for a newbie.

[afb]

Hi I am new on this forum and am seriously thinking about keeping bees,I am about to enrole on a course for beginners.

I have been doing a lot of reading on the web about this hobby and the differant types of hive available. Is it true that top bar hives are a better environment to keep bees in than the other more popular types of hive.

At present my reasons for wanting to keep bees is not just for the honey but to do something to assist the honeybee population and be able to observe these facinating creatures.

 

[the beehive lodge]

Hi i see this is your first post
i was just like you i want to keep bees for the joy of them and not the honey
but my experience over my short time of keeping them i believe the national hive would be better to start of with as on your course they would be using them

 

[madasafish]

I started beekeeping in 2010 with a TBH. No matter what hive type you use, you need some practical experience in handling bees before you start as :
you may not like it
or
bees may not like you
or
you are allergic to stings.

I learned on nationals at our local apiary. TBHs are MUCH easier to use. in my view.. Not much needs be done. |And they are cheaper if you diy.

So far my bees have survived my best attempts to eradicate them

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Unfortunate initials you've got yourself there afb! Welcome anyway - the course is a good place to start so you can grill your tutor on the relative merits of TBHs and standard.

 

[Brosville]

Trouble is that most local associations only have training for nationals and similar - some will tell you that TBHs are of the very devil, will give you warts, and your firstborn will be cursed for the next 27 generations..........

I'd say "go with your heart" - if it's telling you that honey is a nice bonus, but you want to do all you can to conserve bees, then the "more natural" approach may suit you best (but I wouldn't pretend it's the "easiest" route- there is lots of help available online, but not necessarily much "local, ground-level" sort of help)

 

[Chris B]

Is it true that top bar hives are a better environment to keep bees in than the other more popular types of hive.

The truth is bees can be found in all kinds of places from hollow trees to compost bins, wall cavities, chimneys and bird boxes. And some even voluntarily take up residence in empty hives. They are highly adaptable. Choice of hive is more about what suits you.

 

[Nellie]

I'd opine that Top Bar Hives are slightly more "convenient" to the bee than the beekeeper in so far as they're free to draw the comb how they see fit, but that's easily achievable in a box hive as well.

You do sacrifice some ease of use and flexibility with a top bar over a standard Box hive, but I still maintain that when it comes to "good for the bees" the beekeeper is of far more relevance than the box they live in.

Their main big advantage is price, you can knock up a Top Bar Hive for a couple of pounds and all the fannying around with spacing etc is left to the bees to sort out.

 

[birchdale]

Just make sure that all your equipment is for TBH, if you choose that, otherwise you and they can get stuck!!!!

 

[thedeaddiplomat]

I know someone who started (last year) with a TBH (now has 3!). He argues that they were much easier to deal with than a national - but my own experience (with nationals) is that the second year is anyway more difficult than the first, so we will have to see. He did not get a great deal of honey in 2010, but then you wouldn't expect to from a first-year hive anyway.

But I have seen his hives, and am impressed enough to have asked my son (he's the one in the family who is practical) to build me one for an out apiary this season.

 

[psafloyd]

I think it's generally horses for courses.

Get some experience. If it is through your division, it will be on Nationals, but if you can find a mentor, it might be them, langstroth or any kind you care to mention.

There will be some keepers who might show you around theirs in Cornwall and let you make your mind up.

Some on here do courses but we did discuss putting up a list of people who were happy to show novices the ropes; give them a first taste of what it is like to handle the bees.

 

[afb]

Many thanks for your replies. It would appear the choice of hive is a personal one,I suppose that I could if I wanted to have a variety of hives.

Next thing to do is enrol on a course to gain some experiance and then make a decision to become a bee keeper or not.

Thanks again.

Tony

 

[Nellie]

Many thanks for your replies. It would appear the choice of hive is a personal one,I suppose that I could if I wanted to have a variety of hives.

Next thing to do is enrol on a course to gain some experiance and then make a decision to become a bee keeper or not.

Thanks again.

Tony

You could do if you wanted, but I don't think I'd be alone in suggesting that it'd be a lot easier to at least have all your hives in one apiary using a single type of hive, whichever type you eventually opt for. The ability to, for example, take a comb of eggs from one hive and put it into another is a pretty standard technique but which becomes complicated at best if you're trying to manage different types of hive on one site.

I'd always recommend doing a course and definitely spend some time with an associations or mentors bees before you shell out any money on your own.

 

[afb]

Thats good advice thank you.

 

[RoofTops]

The best advice is to get some practical knowledge off beekeeping from as wide a base as possible. Going on a course will help a lot but there is a danger you come away thinking the only sort of hive worth getting is the one the instructer used.

 

[tonybloke]

Top Bar Hives (and Mr Chandler) will be on Carol Kleins new gardening programme, Friday eves, 8.30 p.m., BBC2, bees to be in episode 3 & 5 AFAIK.

 

[blackbrood]

Top Bar Hives (and Mr Chandler) will be on Carol Kleins new gardening programme, Friday eves, 8.30 p.m., BBC2, bees to be in episode 3 & 5 AFAIK.

thanks for that info., I will make a note to watch it. cheers Tony

BB

 

[birdman jack]

Not for Money or Honey:

I am starting with two top bar hives. I like how easy they are to work and how I was able to put them together with materials I had on hand already. I never had bees before but my dad had langs so I am not unfamilur with bees. Why not start with what you want. The experiance you gain can make you better at what you are doing and in a couple of years when you have figured it out the newbees will be asking you the same questions. I am not a honey lover or trying to make money but just like the thought of having a natural resource around that may be in trouble. Good luck what ever you decide.

 

[freethorpe bees]

Must remember to watch that!

 

[blackbrood]

this is the link to Carol Kleins series on iplayer, click here

 

[Hombre]

Watching it now, very good, thanks.