My Top Bar Hive

[Apis629]

I started a top bar hive on May 14th and, I have to say that it's rapidly become my favorite hive. The bees are less deffensive, the comb looks nicer, there's NO heavy lifting. I just wish i went all top bar hives rather than the other 4 langstroth 10 framers.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/Apis629/9e6d2a96.jpg
The entrance at 8 weeks.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/Apis629/151588625_442ea6e3dc_m.jpg
Cluster at 1 week.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/Apis629/155932354_9874d5d4ee_m.jpg
Cluster at 3 weeks

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/Apis629/155932353_1cc72b2fb2_m.jpg
Comb 5 at 3 weeks.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/Apis629/631fa4fe.jpg
Comb 5 at 8 weeks

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/Apis629/c4dbf310.jpg
Cluster at 8 weeks.

The missing photos are all in .mov and I don't know how to convert them to .jpg. I just wanted to show my top bar hive. Again, I just wish I started one of these sooner!

[buckbee]

Nice job! Intersting that so many people respond this way to TBHs - do you think it is because we can see the bees doing their thing *their* way, instead of being more-or-less forced to do things our way?

[Apis629]

I can understand why most prefer the langstroth bodies; they are WAY more productive, easier to manage and, you don't have to worry about if the combs are strait or if they're going to fail. I wonder though, would Top Bar Hives have the benefit of saturating the area with drones. I imagine, that the bees building their own comb, would make many more drone cells than the bees forced to follow foundation.

[D. Murrell]

Hi Apis629,

Great photos. Thanks for sharing.

Once I experienced the simplicity and ease of tbhing, I planned on switching exclusively to tbhs. But it hasn't happened yet. I still have a mix of Langs and tbhs.

And sometimes I have conflicting feelings about each system. But knowing what I now know as a hobbiest/sideliner, if I started over again from scratch, I would go the tbh route.

Regards
Dennis

[Carl Holcomb]

I have one TBH built and another started. I plan on ordering packages for these in the spring. Is there any one race of bees that do better in these hives? If so can anyone suggest a supplier close to the Chattanooga, TN area?

[Michael Bush]

You'll learn more about the bees without foundation. smile.gif