Attic For Top Bar Hive

I moved a colony of bees into this hive using an unorthodox method that i had never tried b.

Attic for top bar hive.

It is the affectionately called the attic. The bees build their comb down from these bars naturally without the use of a 4 sided frame or foundation. Many beekeepers will use top bars that have a small comb guide hanging down. Experts found evidence of its use dating back to 1686 in greece.

Whether it is a cathedral hive or a regular top bar hive proper ventilation from a roof is needed. 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. For the above reasons my inner covers are homemade. With nine frames in the top box the vent is directly over the center top bar.

Nails are driver through the strips and clinched for extra rigidity. Your top bar hive needs some type of roof to go over the flat lid of the hive. Half inch plywood is cut to outer box dimensions and a three quarter strip is added top and bottom. During the cold snap the hive that had the most insulated roof had less dead bees on the bottom screen.

There are several different top bar hive styles. With a top bar hive you ll have a stress free set up and can avoid the labor of heavy lifting. If you do not have a roof the sun beats down on the flat lid of the hive. The top bar hive is the oldest and most commonly used hive style in the world.

Top bar hives have been around for a long time in fact some suggest the design is hundreds of years old. Generally the bars are a wooden wedge or strip with a guide to ensure combs hang straight. It features individual bars laid across the top of the hive cavity. A look at a beautifully made top bar hive made by paul macdonald.

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. Discover how our high quality top bar beehives can offer an economical option for beekeeping. As the temperature went lower other hives increased the number of daily deceased bees. 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.

Of course those were not identical to the top bar hives we have today but the basic concepts are the same. It is a horizontal hive enabling beekeepers to inspect the entirety of the hive without moving heavy supers. With a top bar hive the combs can become very soft and fragile if the hive is overheating.