Attic For Top Bar Hive

Immediately i increased the top insulation of the other hives and the result was a drop in dead bees to a quarter of daily number.

Attic for top bar hive.

Whether it is a cathedral hive or a regular top bar hive proper ventilation from a roof is needed. With a top bar hive you ll have a stress free set up and can avoid the labor of heavy lifting. As the temperature went lower other hives increased the number of daily deceased bees. I moved a colony of bees into this hive using an unorthodox method that i had never tried b.

Half inch plywood is cut to outer box dimensions and a three quarter strip is added top and bottom. It is the affectionately called the attic. The number of top bars the hive will accommodate varies with the width of the box but as a reference a 42 box will use 28 top bars. With a top bar hive the combs can become very soft and fragile if the hive is overheating.

During the cold snap the hive that had the most insulated roof had less dead bees on the bottom screen. If you do not have a roof the sun beats down on the flat lid of the hive. Nails are driver through the strips and clinched for extra rigidity. There are several different top bar hive styles.

Each top bar is laid across the hive with one end at the front of the box and the other at the back. The top bar hive has emerged as a popular alternative to the langstroth for people who are looking to avoid heavy lifting and or enjoy a more natural approach to beekeeping. The bees build their comb down from these bars naturally without the use of a 4 sided frame or foundation. With nine frames in the top box the vent is directly over the center top bar.

Each top bar hive comes equipped with all the essential components that help make beekeeping efficient. Experts found evidence of its use dating back to 1686 in greece. It is a horizontal hive enabling beekeepers to inspect the entirety of the hive without moving heavy supers. Discover how our high quality top bar beehives can offer an economical option for beekeeping.

Many beekeepers will use top bars that have a small comb guide hanging down. A look at a beautifully made top bar hive made by paul macdonald. Top bar hives have been around for a long time in fact some suggest the design is hundreds of years old. Of course those were not identical to the top bar hives we have today but the basic concepts are the same.

For the above reasons my inner covers are homemade. It features individual bars laid across the top of the hive cavity. Generally the bars are a wooden wedge or strip with a guide to ensure combs hang straight.