Top Bar Top Feeder Idea

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

I have an idea for a top bar hive top feeder. I have drawn the design below.

This feeder is designed to be used with a top bar hive that has a cover with an air space above it. This feeder would sit under the cover in the air space.

Top Bar Feeder

The drawing shows the feeder with the top partly open. The top is hinged so that it can easily be opened for inspection, insertion or removal of patties or
fondant or whatever is being fed.

The top would be made of 1/4 inch plywood. The frame could be made of 1 x stock of any size, ripped down to the appropriate height. In the drawing above, it is depicted as 1/2 inch in height, although it probably should be 3/4 inch. The frame could be glued and nailed together. The length of the box from left to right in the drawing would be unimportant. In the drawing it is 5 inches, but could be much longer. The width of the frame would be the same as the width of the hive. The “teeth” sticking down go between a pair of top bars on the hive to provide an entrance to the feeder box. The “teeth” are glued into a dado in the frame. The dado shown is 3/8 inch deep. Since my top bars are ¾ inch high, the tooth sticks down ¾ inch from the frame to make a tight seal on the hive, so the total height of the tooth is 1 1/8 inch. The length of the tooth isn’t critical, but would probably be 3/4 inch also.

The feeder could be placed between any top bar desired and could be adjusted to keep it above the cluster in winter for maximum feeding efficiency.
Another option would be to use 1 x 4s or 1 x 6s as the sides. This would significantly reduce the interior size of the box and reduce the heating load on the bees. This could actually be built as an integral part of a plywood hive top, with no air space, although that would make the feeder position inflexible, although it might be possible to just use a top bar spacer unattached to the top instead of the teeth on each side. Some method to prevent the spacers from falling into the hive would have to be devised, such as a piece of tape over the top bars. Doing this, you could just cut a hole into the plywood cover of the desired size and cover it with another piece of plywood. Of course, this should be designed so that rain and wind wouldn’t go into the hive through the feeder area.

Posted in BeeKeeping, Feeders | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Painting Hives

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

01/07/12 @ 12:56:55 pm by taydeko

The holiday season was quite warm here, so we took the opportunity to paint the large hives that I have built. We started with an oil based primer for all the parts, then painted the hives with an exterior grade oil paint. Only the outside of the hive is painted. Even though the weather was relatively warm, we still put a heater in the garage to keep the temperature warm enough for the paint.

After all the parts were painted, I started with the final assembly of the hives. Unfortunately, we missed one end of the hive when we were painting so I have not been able to complete assembly yet. I needed some additional hardware too, so I had to go get that. We will probably finish painting this weekend, and finish assembling the hives this coming week. I have most of the hardware required to finish both hives now. The only thing remaining is to build the covers for the hives. The frame for only one hive is painted. We will have to finish painting the other one too.

Once assembly is complete and the covers are done, I will move the hives outdoors to weather a bit. Apparently bees don’t really like fresh cut wood, so we want to get that fresh wood smell out as much as possible.
For the interior of the hives, I have a block of beeswax which I am going to dry rub onto the hives. This uses very little wax and puts a very thin, very hard coat of wax on the hive, hopefully making it more attractive to the bees.
I also purchased some Lemon Grass Oil (LGO) for use in the hives and the swarm traps. I will bait both of the big hives to see if anyone will volunteer to live there. In addition, I now have 3 completed swarm traps which will also be baited. I don’t have any comb to use in the traps, but I have some junk I picked up from a wax reduction process to put into the traps to make them feel homey. Now I have to try to find a place to put the traps. I also need to make a bunch more top bars. I am still planning to paint the swarm traps, and I am planning to make a bunch of 6 bar nucs. I can make 4 nucs out of one sheet of plywood and a couple of two by fours. I might not paint the nucs, but that remains to be seen.

Posted in BeeKeeping, Hive Building | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making Top Bars

Posted on December 3, 2011 by

Of course for any top bar hive, you need top bars. Top bars can be made of just about anything, but I am going to describe how to make top bars out of dimensional lumber using a table saw. I will be making two types of top bars as illustrated in profile below.
Small top barBig top bar
                             Small top bar                                             Big top bar

The first is a smaller top bar, so it requires less lumber, of course, but requires more cuts and more precise cuts. The second is larger, and the guide is cut at an angle, so it is more difficult if you don’t like cutting angles. There are a lot of opinions out there on what a top bar should look like. However, almost everyone agrees that there should be some kind of guide to keep the comb straight. The bars I am making are two types that have been shown to be quite effective at keeping the bees making straight comb. I intend to test these bars in the spring to see which I prefer. My hypothesis is that the big bars will be a better guide, helping the bees produce stronger, straighter combs. I can also test the bees preference for having beeswax on the guides. The bees will tell me.

As I indicated, these are made on a table saw. I start with 2x dimensional lumber. The width doesn’t matter. I start by cutting the bars to length, 19.5 inches. This is the same for both types of bars.

Small Bar cutting instructions
1. Set the saw fence at 1 inch. Rip the 2x stock to produce bars that are 1×1.5 inches. You will end up with a narrow piece that can be cut in half and used as spacers.

The start of the small top bar

2. Set the fence to 1 1/4 inches. Set the blade to 1/4 inch deep. I use a piece of scrap lumber to check the cutting height throughout this process. Lay the bar flat on the table and cut through the bar at each end leaving a notch 1 1/4 inches from the ends.

3. Set the saw fence at 15/16 inches. Keep the blade height the same (1/4 inch). Place the side of the bar against the fence and cut a 1/4 inch notch in each bar as shown below.

The first cuts of the small top bar

4. Set the fence to 3/4 inch. Raise the cutting height to 1 1/4 inch. Stand the bar up on the table with the wide uncut part against the fence. Carefully slide the bar over the blade. This will remove the pieces at the ends of the bar.

5. Raise the blade so it is cutting 9/16 inches high. With the uncut side against the fence, cut each side of the bar to leave a 3/8 inch wide guide protruding 1/4 inch from the bar.

Big Bar cutting instructions
This process is similar, but is actually a little easier because there are fewer cuts.
1. Set the saw fence at 1 1/2 inch. Rip the 2x stock to produce bars that are 1.5×1.5 inches.

2. Set the fence to 1 1/4 inch. Set the cut height to 3/4 inch. Make a cut on each end of the bar.

3. Set the fence at 3/4 inch. Set the cut height to 1 1/4 inch. Stand the bar on it’s ends and cut into each end of the bar, cutting off a small tab on each bar. I made a little push bar to help hold the bars in place and push them safely through the blade while controlling the small loose pieces, preventing them from shooting back at me.

4. Set the fence at 3/4 inch. Set the blade angle to 45 degrees. Once the angle is set, adjust the fence again to 3/4 inch. Cut each side of the bars off on the side where the guide should be. This is the final cut.

Of course, I would do a lot of bars at each setting to reduce setup work. If you don’t have a table saw, you could still do this with a hand saw, but it would be pretty difficult. I would probably just cut the guides and screw them onto 1×2 top bars. I think that would be a lot easier.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Building A Swarm Trap

Posted on November 26, 2011 by

Building a swarm trap is quite easy. This article describes how I build mine. These are Top Bar hives, making transfer to a larger hive very easy. I am assuming here that anyone following these instructions has cut the lumber so that the pieces are all cut to size and ready to assemble.

There are two steps that can be done first. I do either first, but both must be done before the rest of the steps are done. I like to start with attaching the 2×2 supports to the sides. So that will be step 1….

1. Attach the 2×2 supports to the sides. Place a 2×2 support on a bench or table. Stand a side on the shorter edge against the 2×2 support and clamp the two pieces together. By doing this, the two pieces should be square and flush.

The side and support pieces
The side and support pieces.

Align the side and support
Align the side and support.

Clamp the side and support together
Clamp the side and support together.

Support the other end of the side
Support the other end of the side.

Drill and countersink through the side into the 2×2 support. Countersinking is necessary so to make the inside of the hive smooth so comb can be cut from the sides if necessary. If you want to use glue, separate the pieces and apply the glue. Then screw the two pieces together. Repeat this process on the other end of the side, then repeat it for the second side. Make sure the 2×2 support does not cover the entrance hole. A shorter 2×2 support may be needed for the southeast edge because of the entrance hole, however, if the hole is in the correct spot, it should not be a problem.

Drill and countersink the side
Drill and countersink the side.

The drilled side
The drilled side.

Attach side with screws
Attach side with screws.

Align side and second support
Align side and second support.

Clamp second side and support
Clamp second side and support.

The completed side
The completed side.

Both completed sides
Both completed sides.

2. Draw the inside shape of the hive on each end. I start with the West End. I use a pattern piece cut using my hive jig (Described in Hive Jig on November 23, 2011. However, I also draw the entire inside pattern on the end pieces to make sure it all goes together correctly. Small errors can make a big difference in the hive dimensions. I mark the center of the pattern and the West End piece. Draw a center line and then measure and draw the pattern to the correct dimensions. Remember, on the West End piece, the top width of the inside is 18 5/8 inches, the bottom width is 7 3/8 inches and distance from top to bottom is 9 3/4 inches. On the East End, the width at the top of the inside is 19 1/2 inches, the bottom width is still 7 3/8 inches and the distance from top to bottom is 10 1/2 inches. This should be very carefully drawn out.

Draw the hive pattern on the inside of the end
Draw the hive pattern on the inside of the end.

Complete drawing the hive pattern on the inside of the end
Complete drawing the hive pattern on the inside of the end.

The drawn pattern
The drawn pattern.

3. Attach the bottom board to the ends. First drill three holes in each end where the bottom board will be attached. Carefully align the top of the bottom board with bottom of the inside of the hive as drawn on the end pieces. Once it is aligned perfectly, drill through one of the existing holes in the end and attach the end to the bottom with a screw. Check the alignment and drill through the other holes into the bottom board and finish attaching the bottom to the end piece. Clamp the pattern to the other end piece and use it to hold up the bottom board. Align the bottom with the drawing on the end piece and attach the bottom board to this end. As with the other joints, glue may be used if desired once the pieces are properly aligned.

The bottom board, showing the correct shape
The bottom board, showing the correct shape.

Drilling the bottom board
Drilling the bottom board.

Attaching the bottom with one screw
Attaching the bottom with one screw.

Aligning the bottom before adding more screws
Aligning the bottom before adding more screws.

Attach aligned bottom with more screw
Attach aligned bottom with more screws.

Attach the bottom to the other end
Attach the bottom to the other end.

4. Attach the south side. Rest the hive on it’s bottom. Determine which side is the south side. The south side has an entrance in it. Actually I like to drill the entrance once the south side is installed from the inside. Turn the hive over so it is resting on the north side. Place one the sides on the bottom board and align the other edge with the pattern on the south side of the West End. The edge of the top of the side should be flush with the top of the West End. Flip the hive over so the widest part is down. Put a piece of 1x lumber under the west end and the side, and under the side only at the east end. The East End should be touching the table. Adjust the side so that both the side and the West End are touching the 1x lumber holding them up when the side is aligned with the drawn pattern on the West End. Make sure the side is also touching the bottom. Clamp the side to the West End. Attach the side to the West End. Check the alignment of the side on the East End. Make any corrections needed and clamp the side to the East End and attach it. Drill through the sides into the bottom board and attach the side to the bottom board. You might have to drill through the sides at an angle to hit the bottom board. To do this, drill about 1/16 inch straight into the side and then change the angle of the drill with the drill running. Once the south side is attached, drill the entrance hole from the inside if it has not been drilled already.

Drilling the end and side with the side clamped to the end
Drilling the end and side with the side clamped to the end.

Clamp the side to the East End
Clamp the side to the East End.

Attach the side to the East End
Attach the side to the East End.

5. Attach the other side. Align and clamp the side to both ends, making sure it is against the bottom and flush with the top, aligned with the pattern correctly. Make sure that the hive entrance is in the Southeast corner of the hive. This is very important. Bees like the entrance in the lower south east corner of the hive. Since the hive is upside down and we are going to flip the hive over, the entrance hole should be at the top.

6. Attach hardware cloth over the inside of the entrance. A two inch square piece of 1/2 inch hardware cloth is attached with staples to the inside of the hive over the entrance to prevent birds and mice from getting into the hive. This won’t bother the bees a bit.

7. Drill ventilation holes. Drill between 4 and 6 ventilation holes using a 1/8 or 3/16 drill bit into the ends just above the bottom board for ventilation of the hive. The bees will plug any they don’t want. These ventilation holes won’t affect the bees decision to bring the swarm to the trap, so more is probably better than less.
The completed trap
The completed trap.

8. Attach the lid. The lid is just a piece of plywood. I like to be able to attach it over the top bars, or possibly without the top bars if I am using it to capture a swarm. I put a screw or an eye screw into the top and the ends so I can fasten the lid to the hive body with a bungee cord, strong rubber bands or even rope or string.

The hive body is complete. I recommend painting the outside of the hive with a relatively dark color to help camouflage the hive. The bees won’t care, but if it is less visible to humans, that is better. You don’t want people messing with your swarm traps. I recommend using an oil based primer and then coating the hive with an oil based paint. If you can get some mistakes from your local paint store, this can be an inexpensive way to get paint. The paint helps protect the swarm trap from the elements.

These hives are now ready to deploy. If placed on flat roof tops or on flat branches, they are fine as they are. If placed in a tree, a method for hanging the hive in the tree will be needed. For both deployment options, the 2×8 bottom provides a strong foundation to the hive. The tree hanger and deployment is a topic for another blog.

Tags: build a swarm trap, build a top bar swarm trap, building swarm trap, hive, ktbh swarm trap, swarm, swarm trap, swarm trap hive, top bar swarm trap

Posted in BeeKeeping, Hive Building | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Swarm Trap Dimensions and Cutting Guide

Posted on November 25, 2011 by

The swarm trap is a small hive that is placed in areas where there may be bee swarms. The idea is that they move into the swarm trap and can then be transported to the apiary. These traps do not harm the bees in any way.

I make my swarm traps out of 1/2 inch plywood, a 2×8 for the bottom and some 2x2s to hold things together, since plywood doesn’t take screws into the edges very well. One 4×8 sheet of plywood makes 3 swarm traps. The inside dimensions of the swarm trap are exactly the same as my other hives. The top bars are 19.5 inches long. The top of the hive is 18 5/8 inches wide and the bottom of the inside of the hive is 7 3/8 inches wide. The distance between the top and the bottom is 9 3/4 inches. There is a lid cut from the plywood that covers the top bars. A cross section of the inside of the hive would look like this:

Hive Dimensions

The length of this hive is 18 inches on the inside.  The ends of the hive are named “East” and “West” to help distinguish between them. The ends are different sizes. The East side is taller to help hold the bars in place. The entrance to the hive is in the east end of the south side, so it helps to know which end is which. When completed, the hives should be oriented so that the East end is facing east generally. The entrance hole is a 1.25 inch circular hole drilled into the east end of the south side in the bottom corner. The center of the entrance hole should be 2 5/8 inches from the short side of the side piece, and 2 1/2 inches from the long side of the side piece. I like to wait to drill the entrance until the side is attached to the bottom and ends of the hive to make sure it is in the right place.

To summarize, the dimensions of the hive parts are as follows:

Part Quantity Size in Inches
Hive Sides 2 12.5 x 18
Hive Entrance 1 1.25 hole
East End 1 11.75 x 20
West End 1 11 x 20
Lid 1 20 x 21
2×2 supports 4 10
2×8 bottom 1 18

The edges of the bottom have to be ripped at a 30 degree angle to match the angle of the sides. Since the actual 2×8 width is 7 1/4 inches, and the bottom width is 7 3/8, the sides will meet the bottom board slightly below the top edge of the bottom. If you are using a circular saw to cut the bevels, and it has a 4 inch bottom plate, place your cutting guide 3 15/16 inch from each edge of the bottom board to make it the proper size and shape. The final shape of the board is shown below. The overlap is exaggerated a little to show it more clearly.

Bottom Board Cross Section

When the hive is completed, the cross section will look like this:

Hive Cross Section

The top bars and lid will sit on the top of the side pieces. The next blog will discuss assembly of the parts.

Posted in BeeKeeping, Hive Building | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Top Bar Hive Jig

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

One of the hard parts about the shape in the previous post is getting it consistently right, so I created a jig to make creating end pieces, follower boards or hive jigs easily. This jig is cut from 3/8” MDF. The jig has screw in nuts to hold a saw guide in place accurately to cut the sides and bottoms of the follower board at the correct angles and sizes.

To make this jig, you need 8 screw 8-32 screw anchors and two 8-32 x 5/8 inch bolts and two 5/8th to ¾ inch wood screws. You also need a piece of MDF at least 18 5/8 inches long by 9 ¾ inches deep. Cut the board to exactly 9 ¾ inches in depth. The jig does not need to be cut any more until it is built. The saw guide is another piece of MDF 3 inches wide by 20 inches long. The dimensions are not critical, this is just what I had on hand.

1. Cut the saw guide.
2. Drill two holes about 3 inches apart in the center of the saw guide. Care in the hole spacing should be used to ensure the anchor nuts are not in the space where the saw will slide.
3. On the top of the jig body, measure 18 and 5/8th inches and mark the spot. The top is the widest part of the jig. The bottom will be the narrow part.
4. On both top and bottom, measure half that distance, 9 5/16th inches to mark the center line.
5. Draw the center line.
6. Measure 3 11/16th inches from the center line in both directions at the bottom edge.
7. Connect the top corners to the 3/11/16th marks on the bottom edge. The result will look like this:

 First Layout of Hive Jig

8. Next drill two holes in this board in the middle about 3 inches apart. These holes are used to fasten this board to the piece you are cutting. The small wood screws are used in these holes. These holes should be countersunk so that the screws do not interfere with the cutting guide.
9. Very carefully measure 4 inches from the sides and bottom of the jig and draw lines.
10. Also measure and draw a line 4 3/8 inch from the bottom. The result looks like this:

 Final Layout of Hive Jig

11. Clamp the saw guide to the jig so that one edge is exactly on one of the lines drawn in step 9 and 10.
12. Using the holes drilled in step 2 as guides, drill into the body of the jig through the saw guide. This marks the spots for the screw in anchors.
13. Repeat steps 11 and 12 for each of the lines drawn in steps 9 and 10.
14. Drill the proper sized holes in the jig for the screw in anchors.
15. Screw in the anchors. Be sure to exert pressure on the anchors as you screw them in or they will simply dig a bigger hole in the jig. Once all of the anchors are set, the jig is essentially done. I mark the holes so that I know what each one is for. The finished guide looks like this:

 The Finished Hive Jig

The saw guide is attached to the jig using the 8-32 bolts screwed into the anchors. A circular hand saw is placed on the jig against the saw guide, and the jig is cut using the saw guide. The saw guide should be placed on each side and on the 4 3/8 inch line to cut out the jig. The dimensions given are for a saw with a 4 inch platform. If you saw is different adjust the dimensions accordingly when drawing the lines in steps 9 and 10. Once the jig is cut, it can be used to cut follower boards or end boards for hives by simply attaching it to an appropriately sized board with top of the jig against one edge of the source board using the wood screws and cutting the three sides by putting the saw guide in the proper places. The only thing you have to be careful of is to put the saw guide in the correct position for the bottom of the board. If you are building a follower or an assembly jig, cut along the 4 inch bottom line. If you are cutting an end board with a 3/8 inch vent, cut along the 4 3/8 inch bottom line.

Posted in BeeKeeping, Hive Building | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Top Bar Hive Dimensions

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

When I first started trying to figure out how to build a top bar hive, I wanted to find the dimensions. Unfortunately the plans I worked from were not very detailed in the critical dimensions I needed, so I thought I would address that here, as well as how to figure out the dimensions of your own hive if it is different from mine. My hive dimensions are derived from the TJ Carr hive, to keep it compatible with other local beekeepers in Albuquerque.

There are three critical things to keep in mind when figuring out the dimensions. First, the length of the hive doesn’t matter as long as it is under four feet in length. Second, my hives use a 60 degree angle for the sides. This means that the hive starts as an equilateral triangle where the sides are pulled out. The third piece of critical information is that the top bars are 19.5 inches long. We want to make the hive so that the top bars don’t fall into the hive accidentally.

The starting point for the hive dimensions is standard US dimensional lumber for the sides of the hive. The sides use a 1×12 board as the starting point. 1x12s are actually 11 and 1/4 inches wide, so that is the width of the sides for all of my hives. If my hives came to a point at the bottom, the top of the hive would then be 11 1/4 inches also, but the top bars wouldn’t fit on top of that very well, so we need to make the bottom wider. I want the top bars to have about a 1/2 inch overhang on each side, so I have chosen 18 5/8 inches as the width of the top of my hive. Each top bar would overhang 7/16ths of an inch on each side. Subtracting 11 1/4 from 18 5/8 we get a bottom width of 7 3/8 inch. Only one dimension remains, the actual height from top to bottom of the hive. This can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem or trigonometry. I am not going to put the calculation here, but the actual number is 9.7427 inches or so close to 9.75 that I can’t measure the difference, so I will use 9 3/4 inches as the height of my hive. Keep in mind that these are the inside dimensions of the hive. The image below shows this shape.

 Hive Dimensions

So, to make it simple, here are the final dimensions in inches:

Top Width: 18 5/8
Bottom Width: 7 3/8
Height: 9 3/4

If you want to change the dimensions, making the hive wider or narrower, just change the top and bottom widths by the same amount. To use a shorter side, you will have to recalculate the height based on the height of the side using the Pythagorean Theorem. These calculations are based on the 60 degree angles, so any other angles you are on your own.

Posted in BeeKeeping, Hive Building | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Building Hives

Posted on November 9, 2011 by

I have started building hives. I have built one hive using modified plans from TJ Carr. I also saw one of his latest hives at the October ABQ Beek meeting and got some ideas from that. I made my first hive from 1x lumber. I also have detailed plans on how to build it. I am revising those plans and will post them here when they are complete. This hive has a lot of nice features, but is relatively expensive to build and is relatively complex, requiring some special cutting and extra work. I think it will be a great hive, though.

The second hive is very simple, similar to a Phillip Chandler hive, but using the TJ Carr dimensions. My original plan was to use 1×6 lumber from the cull bin at Home Depot, but I discovered that the 1x6s that I saw there were pressure treated, so I didn’t think that would work too well. I rarely see other 1×6 boards in the cull bin. 1×6 boards on the shelves are quite expensive, so I decided to wait a bit to start building this hive. However, as I was wandering dejectedly around the store, I noticed that I can get 2×6 lumber for much less than half the price of 1×6 lumber!!! I decided to use 2x6s for the hive and get a stronger, better insulated, and cheaper hive all in one shot. Of course it is a lot heavier, but it went together pretty quickly, and was very inexpensive. I am still perfecting the plan and the dimensions and I will also publish them here later.

The body’s of both hives are done. I am waiting for some warm weather to come around so I can paint both hives and then complete the final assembly. I have been remiss in not taking pictures as I go along, but I will try to unlimber a camera and remedy that situation.

In addition to building the hives, I have also built some jigs to make the hives easier to assemble. As time goes on I will also describe how to make these jigs and how to use them.

If you need a hive in the Albuquerque, NM area, I could also build one for you. I don’t have a price yet, but it would be very reasonable. Any excess profits I make from my beekeeping will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

After I complete the two big hives I am working on, I will start making some smaller hives to use as swarm traps and Nucs.

Tags: kenya top bar, ktbh, leukemia & lymphoma society, mzima apiary, tj carr, top bar

Posted in BeeKeeping, Hive Building | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Choices, Choices, Choices

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

10/15/11 @ 10:04:20 am by taydeko

After deciding to keep bees again, there are a lot of choices that have to be made. Where do you put a hive? What kind of hive? How many hives? Where to get the bees?

Initially, I was thinking about using a Langstroth hive, which is the stack of boxes you see in agricultural areas. I was thinking this might be easier to get and get going because all the stuff is available commercially. The problem is that all the stuff is available commercially. It is very expensive, and I don’t feel like spending hundreds of dollars for a hive and hundreds more for honey processing equipment. So the economics of this led me toward a top bar hive again. I also think top bar hives are a more natural way of keeping bees, letting them do what they do naturally, creating a less stressful and healthier environment, leading to stronger colonies. So I came back to the same conclusion that the top bar hive was the way to go. Special equipment is not required or is minimized, and the cost to get started is a small fraction of the cost of a Langstroth type hive.

Before, I made a very elaborate hive, but was never able to establish a colony, so this time I decided to just make a simple hive without all the bells and whistles. There are different kinds of top bar hives. Before I made what is called a Tanzania top bar hive, which has straight sides. Because of the prevalence in my home town of the TJ Carr Kenya top bar hives, I decided to make one of those to provide maximum compatibility with other area beekeepers. Earlier in the week I talked to TJ about hive design and he had made some changes to his design which I incorporated into mine. I drew up plans and have started building the hive. Some hives are designed to sit on the ground, but that puts them at greater risk of ant, mouse and skunk attacks, so I am building mine with legs that can be detached, and a “table stand” where the hive can be placed on any level surface without fear of it tipping over. I will get into more details of the hive in later posts.

Another decision was about the type and size of top bar. There are as many opinions about that as there are beekeepers, I think. But in keeping with my standardization efforts, I am going with the standard TJ Carr hive sizing of 19.5 inches in length and 1.5 inches in width. Some beekeepers try to use two widths of bars to promote building of different types of comb, but that seems a little too intense on the management side of things, so I just stuck with a standard width and will let the bees decide what kind of comb they want to build.

Most top bar hives have some kind of guide for the bees to ensure they build the comb on the top bars instead of across them. TJ uses a 3/8 inch wide insert that he glues into the top bar that sticks out 1/4 inch. Before I knew that, I had decided to use a triangular guide screwed onto the top bar. Many beeks swear by the triangular guides because it gives a large surface area for attachment of the bars, and as a guide it works really well. Most top bar keepers say to coat the guides with beeswax, but others say that the beeswax painted does not adhere as well as what the bees apply, and it makes no difference to the bees if there is beeswax on the guides or not, so I decided to skip the beeswax coating.

Going forward, I will be posting the hive plans for anyone who is interested, along with pictures of the hive as it is built. In addition, I will be detailing other choices we make as we go along. There is still lots I have to learn about all this. Please keep in mind if you are reading this that I am a beginner also. I am relating my experiences and certainly don’t profess to know the “right way” to do this. My goal is to let the bees teach me the right way.

Posted in BeeKeeping | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting Started

Posted on October 11, 2011 by

I was at a book store a few weeks ago and saw a colorful book on beekeeping on sale for a crazy low price. We bought it and it sat around the house for a while. At the state fair, we saw some beekeepers and tried their honey. I asked them questions about mites and colony collapse disorder. Then I started to look at the book, and started thinking about beekeeping again.
I ventured into beekeeping once before about 10 years ago. I built an elaborate Tanzania top bar hive and bought all the equipment and bees and set out to be a beekeeper. Unfortunately, that experiment was fairly short lived and unsuccessful. The first bees took off within the first couple of days. The second batch started building comb, but I became very sick and ended up in the hospital for several months. When I came home, the bees were dead or gone, and I couldn’t go near the hive for health reasons. A couple years later, the hive was smashed and hauled away as trash.

I talked to my wife, Menchie, about it, and she didn’t object to me trying this again, so I started researching again. I decided to do things a little differently based on my research. There is a large beekeeping community here in central New Mexico, and a beekeeping group, Albuquerque Beekeepers. I joined the group and am looking forward to my first meeting with them. I am going to see if I can hook up with someone there and work with them to learn more before I get my first bees. I also decided to build a Kenya top bar hive (KTBH), because that is what most of them use here. This will make it possible to share equipment and comb with other keepers in the area, which can make it easier to get started. I asked some questions on the local beekeeping forum and decided to build a simple hive that would be quick and inexpensive to build. Because of the simple design, I will probably build one large hive, and a couple of smaller hives for baiting swarms or Nucs. I will be posting my hive plans in later posts.

Of course, there are lots of other things that have to be done. I have to investigate local laws and let my neighbors known what I am doing. The house in back of us has kids, and there are lots of dogs around, so there are still lots of hurdles to jump before I can actually get started. This blog will be a journal of activities involved with getting over those hurdles and beyond.

Posted in BeeKeeping | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment