questions from a soon to be beginner with tbhs

[Ribster]

Hi everyone!

I've been beekeeping with langsgroth hives for quite a while and have been modifying here and there, but need a new bee toy. TBHs look interesting but I have some questions.

1. Do the bees just naturally not adhere the comb to the sides or bottom? (If I put a shallow frame in a med. langsgroth super they will adhere it to the next frame down)

2. Do you use anything similar to an excluder? (I don't use them now, but with a much smaller hive space [not 5 supers high] how can you keep her from laying in the harvest? Is the hive population much smaller, if so how do you controll inevitable swarming(by harvesting every 2or3 weeks?)

3. Could you use a screened wood frame (not a langsgroth frame) for the bottom to have an sbb?

I'm sorrry for packing tons of questions into 3. I just couldn't find this info the sites people have been giving.

Thank you.

Jonathan Murray

[Michael Bush]

>1. Do the bees just naturally not adhere the comb to the sides or bottom?

Usually not much.

>(If I put a shallow frame in a med. langsgroth super they will adhere it to the next frame down)

Usually not right away, but eventually they probably will.

>2. Do you use anything similar to an excluder?

I don't use one in a regular hive and have no interest in using one in a TBH.

>(I don't use them now, but with a much smaller hive space [not 5 supers high] how can you keep her from laying in the harvest?

If she lays in it, it's not harvest.

>Is the hive population much smaller

No.

> if so how do you controll inevitable swarming(by harvesting every 2or3 weeks?)

I put some empty bars in the middle of the brood nest to get them to expand it. On some of them I've put supers on.

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/LongHiveSupered.JPG

>3. Could you use a screened wood frame (not a langsgroth frame) for the bottom to have an sbb?

http://www.bushfarms.com/images/TTBHOpen.JPG

This one has the screened bottom board built in. But you could make it separate. I don't see an advantage to it.

[Ribster]

Thank you michael that helped a bunch. The pictures worked wonders.

It seems like a good cheap way to produce comb honey. I'm going foundationless on all my leftover shallow supers that were destroyed by waxmoths. I'm going to make chunk out of what the bees build. It seems to be going very well.

Thank you.

Jonathan Murray