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TBH Designs Wanted

53K views 60 replies 33 participants last post by  DocBB 
#1 ·
#5 ·
#11 ·
I'm preparing to start keeping bees this spring and have been looking at TBH's. This one is pretty interesting for sure.

I'm looking to go Tanzanian-style for the simple purpose of being able to put Lang supers on top and even use foundationless frames in the horizontal.

This model gave me some good ideas for the build. Thanks for posting it!

dude
 
#15 ·
hey WildB. I love the design. The frames are a great idea. I keep asking people to make suggestions about my designs but no one ever does, but I have some suggestions for yours (if it won't piss you off). (really don't want to cause offense)
1. It seems tall. Might be easier to lift lid and frames if they are a hip level
2. if you made the landing board flat you could use a boardman feeder
3. deeper frames would mean having mess with the bees less often
4. the gable vents would work better if there were corresponding soffit vents. (I'm in a hot climate to venting the attic is critical)
5. I'd use some sort of plastic for the bottom board (maybe Plexiglas) so that it doesn't warp and get stuck (yes that's a personal experience)
Anyway thanks for sharing
 
#16 ·
Hey Zonker, where can I look at your designs? I like seeing other people's ideas and concepts.
Thanks for the comments. The stand can be made to any height to suite the user. There are soffit openings for venting. I didn't mention them, but if you angle down or zoom into the roof you will see there is a continuous slot opening under the soffit. The plexiglass tray does sound like a good idea, it would stand up to moisture better too. If it was clear you could even look through it to check out the hive without opening and creating a draft.
 
#19 ·
I am a true novice and will defer to your expertise in the matter of the "top bar" definition. The side dowels and bottom bar that make up my "open frames" are completely optional and only to help support the comb structures to minimize comb failures. There is no foundation, so the combs within the frames would be completely bee made. I have just read a lot of people having comb failures with traditional top bar designs and thought a support structure attached to the top bar might help.
 
#22 ·
I'm planning a KTBH and used Google SketchUp to create a design for feedback here. It's a lot bigger than some, mainly because it's designed to hold medium Langstroth frames, and I'm planning to use some 1x11" boards for the sides.

I've been reading that the total volume should be about the same as three deep supers, or a little more. In round numbers, this one is 9" deep, 24.5" across at the top, and 14.5" across at the bottom. At 48" long, that makes about 8,500 cubic inches, or about 140 liters. That's not huge, right?

The idea with the medium frames is that I can do a hybrid approach, perhaps even put a medium super on top of that part of the TBH -- to install a nuc, to make splits, etc. This idea started with two videos at the Barefoot Beekeeper website,

Converting from Frames to Top-Bars the Easy Way (Two Parts)

So I had a idea to put a sort of half-box (cutting the box diagonally) for 14" along the insides of the TBH, to hold a set of Langstroth frames. Allowing for ~3/8" beespace at the lower corners of the frames, angling the walls at 60 degrees, and using the 11" boards, produces the following design:



I can peg the half-boxes on the edge of the TBH, and drop the medium frames down between them, I think. I might let the bees put comb on the bottom of the frames, or put a false floor 3/8" below (not shown in the diagram).

But most of the TBH, or all of it, will be regular top bars, with comb up to 9" deep and 24" across at the top. Too big?

The vertical parts of the half-boxes are two layers of 3/8" plywood, offset to create a 5/8" deep perch for the ends of the frames. I figure I can put screws through the plywood into the horizontal bar, and (not shown) plug in the triangular space at each end. (I'm looking at construction details, pdfs from here on BeeSource, for the specs.) In effect, it's sort of an inside-out box to hold the frames.

I think it's not as complicated as it looks. Wondering what problems people see. If the space under the half-boxes is closed in, does that create a refuge for vermin? If I leave it open and the bees go under there, can I hope that they'll patrol for vermin, and I can leave whatever they decide to build down there (until I take it all out)?
 
#24 · (Edited)
Thanks, Zonker. I'm a newbie and wide open to discussion.

One thing I heard is that sloped sides make it easier to cut the bars with comb attached on the sides, and pull them without banging them on the sides. Also that a longer bar at the top has a better hold on the comb.

The Compleate Idiot's Guide says to "think in terms of three deep Langstroth boxes (about 7,800 cubic inches)." I've seen some stuff around the web that says 'natural' hives (the kind bees build for themselves) can be a lot smaller, like maybe 40-60 liters, but 7800 cubic inches is about 128 liters.

I'm also wondering, with this design, if the bees in it would have advantages or disadvantages in getting through the winter. The closer to round, the less surface area for the amount of volume... But might they get lost, divide up, in such a large round space?

Here's the link to the SketchUp model (finally figured how to post it). I'll look for discussion of it here.
 
#27 ·
I really didn't really plan to have this shape of a top bar hive, but when the top bar that I purchased on ebay turned out to be (what I considered to be) too shallow, I added a riser (with extra windows). The bees seem happy, and haven't attached to the sides much - the one place that they did attach was where the queen cage was hanging next to the glass when I installed the package this spring. Having windows on both sides makes it really easy to get enough light to see what they're doing - and it gives me access to both sides of the cluster.

I should say I'm very new to beekeeping, so this is completely untested, but the bees that reside in the hive look pretty happy. You can see the hive at www.mybeegarden.com.

-- Susan
 
#28 ·
Mine are extremely basic, made for someone who is at best a hack carpenter. All you need is a table saw and driver drill:
http://www.sparkybeegirl.com/ktbs-plans-new.pdf
I have never attached the legs, mine sit on aluminum stands ( weded together by my boyfriend and sitting in ant moats as the ants are dreadful here in the Bay Area of California
Some pictures here:
http://www.rogueruby.com/beepix.html
Happy Beekeeping! Ruby

4 top bar hives: two in oakland, two in san anselmo all thriving!
 
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