Overwintering of TBH's

[Fernhill]

Wondering from you folks who have TBH's if you have difficulty getting them through the winter. All the designs I've seen have the bees building comb parallel to the front of the hive. Seems like moving from comb to comb towards the back of the hive would be difficult since there's always a comb in the way of the cluster moving into new honey. Is this the case? I'd like to put a package in on a TBH this year and try it myself. Places where TBH's are used extensively always seem to be places where there's no winter. ie. Tanzania or Kenya

Thanks,
Mike

[drobbins]

have you looked at bwrangler's website?

http://bwrangler.farvista.net/

he's hardly in a warm location
having the combs parallel to the entrance is called the "warm way" and helps stop drafts from entering the hive

Dave

[Michael Bush]

No problems here.

[BerkeyDavid]

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/dn4911/album/576460762320017576/photo/294928803202471949/1
Of the 3 top bar hives I made this one continues to survive. It made it through the winter again this year, even though I do nothing to protect it from the wind.

The only management I do is to take a split off it each year and hharvest a little comb.

I agree that Dennis' site is the best place to go for overwintering hive design issues.

My hive is too small I think, it was the biggest of the 3 I built though.

[D. Murrell]

Hi Guys,

Langstroth, before inventing the modern hive, used a tbh type hive and would cut communication holes into the comb. It sounds like a good idea and I've thought about it. But just haven't found a practical reason to do so.

My bees overwinter fine without any additional work. I haven't lost a tbh while overwintering them yet(5 seasons).

I suspect that with the long side facing the southern sun during the winter, that enough warmth is generated to facilitate any kind of winter bee movement.

I'm not sure what would happen in a far north place like Alaska's interior. Tall tbh comb or a vertical hive might be a necessity in places where the sun's heat is absent. But I don't know as I just don't have any experience with shorter comb.

Michael Bush, in eastern Nebraska, runs medium depth long hives and doesn't experience any problems, so I will defer to him.

Regards
Dennis

[Jon McFadden]

I haven't done anything special. This is my first year with a TBH. Here are some pictures:
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6
Jon

[BerkeyDavid]

John those are great pics, love the glass and I agree with the follower board idea to reduce volume at first.

[D. Murrell]

Hi John,

Thanks for tbh photos. I always get another idea when looking at other people's designs.

Thanks
Dennis