Ventilation and Bars

[Sprocket58]

I've decided to try a couple of TBHs but have been fiddling around with design questions.

First off.... I see many have solid bottoms. Can you use screened bottoms or is there no or little assistance with ventilation, or should one stick with solids. I live in Michigan so God only knows what kind of weather we'll get here.

Secondly, I've noticed that bars are typically two different widths. Why is this and where are those different widths placed within the hive?

Also any opinion as to which style of TBH is more suitable for Michigan?

thanks.
Kim

[Beesilly]

I've decided to try a couple of TBHs but have been fiddling around with design questions.

First off.... I see many have solid bottoms. Can you use screened bottoms or is there no or little assistance with ventilation, or should one stick with solids. I live in Michigan so God only knows what kind of weather we'll get here.

Secondly, I've noticed that bars are typically two different widths. Why is this and where are those different widths placed within the hive?

Also any opinion as to which style of TBH is more suitable for Michigan?

thanks.
Kim
Hello,
First, Yes you can use screened bottoms. In fact, my TBH has one. But in winter i plan to cover it with a piece of wood. I don't feel comfortable leaving it open in the freezing cold. Screened bottom boards can also help with vaorra.
Second, the reason for 2 diffrent width bars, is that honey combs tend to be wider than brood combs. So the wider bars are used for honeycombs and thinner bars used for brood combs. Me? I just used the same measurment for all of the bars,(1 3/8") to limit confusion and so i dont have to worry about 'oh that bar should be here and that bar should be there'. I'm just going to let the bees organize themselves, and i'll help them out if the get honeybound or something.
Thats what I'm doing!
I suggest you to take a look at the wonderful plans for making TBHs on http://www.biobees.com,(i used those plans to make mine) and take a look at the forum. Its very informative and interesting!
Good luck with your TBH!
Beesilly

[Michael Bush]

>First off.... I see many have solid bottoms. Can you use screened bottoms

Sure. But I'd put a tray in. Even in summer this may be too much ventilation for them to keep it COOL. Bees need to CONTROL the ventilation of the hive in order to maintain the temperature. In the heat they are evaporating water to cool it. If they can't control that, then the temperature gets too high and the combs collapse.

> or is there no or little assistance with ventilation

They don't seem to have any ventilation problems with horizontal hives.

> or should one stick with solids. I live in Michigan so God only knows what kind of weather we'll get here.

Solid works fine.

>Secondly, I've noticed that bars are typically two different widths. Why is this and where are those different widths placed within the hive?

Some people make them all the same size. In my observation the bees build the honey combs thicker than the brood combs, so I adjusted to what the bees do. The 1 1/4" I use for brood. The 1 1/2" I use for honey storage. I put the 1 1/4" nearest the entrance and the others at the other end. They usually cluster by the entrance and start there. If they don't I'd swap the bars one at a time until the cluster is on the 1 1/4". Once they start building thicker comb, I move the 1 1/2" up next to that first fat comb and the 1 1/4" to the opposite end and then feed the 1 1/4" into the brood nest one at a time until they are filled.

>Also any opinion as to which style of TBH is more suitable for Michigan?

I think it's up to you. The advantages of one that interchanges with standard equipment (like the long medium) is that you can put a standard frame feeder in or a standard top feeder on and if you have standard hives or know someone with them you can even put frames in if you need to for some reason. Both KTBH and TTBH will do just as well.

[Sprocket58]

Thanks for the input everyone. With TBHs is there as big of a concern over mites??? This was the main reason for my thinking about SBBs.

[Shapleigh's Bees]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm
http://www.bwrangler.com/bee/ncel.htm
http://www.bwrangler.com/bee/lbla.htm

I don't think there's any magic bullet for mites, but folks can and do keep bees without chemicals in all kinds of hives.

[Hanover Honey]

Mites are a problem, period. I am adding a KTBH to my bee yard cause I like the idea of natural cell, low cost, something diferent, etc. etc...
SBB's are in IPM in any equipment. Any mite that fall down and out is better than one that just falls down. I do agree that SBB's should have a tray. Bees do cool the hive thru evaporation, not just cool it down, but actually lower than outside temps and too much ventalaion can counter thier efforts. Quick science lesson--water boils at 212F and doesn't get any hotter even if the flame under the pot is much hotter. This is due to the cooling efects of evaporation. The higher the heat, the more rapid the boil, the more steam(evaporation) thus keeping the water at 212. Now add something like sugar to the water. This makes the mix thicker therfore boiling slower and reducing the rate of evapoation(steam) thus allowing sugar water to boil at higher and higher temps.
Sorry for the long post.

[Michael Bush]

>Thanks for the input everyone. With TBHs is there as big of a concern over mites???

On natural cell I haven't had Varroa problems. I see the SBB more useful as a monitoring tool to make sure you don't have Varroa problems. But it's a bit different on a Top Bar Hive because of the increased area of the bottom and therefore, IMO, too much ventilation unless you have a tray under it.

[Sprocket58]

Thanks again for the input, I am looking forward to working with these hives.