Hello

[cbolstad]

Hi, My name is Chuck and after being interested in bees for years, I finally cleared my work schedule enough to give this endeavor as much attention as it deserves.. I retired. I have a small apple orchard, strawberries and a fairly large garden so I have relied on wild bees and now hope to cooperate with a bee colony to make my little farm work better.
i have read quite a bit about beekeeping (enough to know how much I have to learn!) and plan to attend a new beekeeper workshop locally but from what I have read on this site it looks very helpful.
I am fascinated by top bar hives, What do people think about those?
Chuck

[lisascenic]

What do they say -- ask five beekeepers, get seven opinions ?

[Specialkayme]

Seven would probably be an understatement, lol. Personally, I don't like Top Bar Hives. But that's me. For you, the important thing to remember when you are starting out is to keep your equipment universal, and standard with what everyone else around you has, at least to start. If you have a top bar hive, and you are the only one within 100 miles (that you know of) that has one, you might have problems. If you need brood, honey, comb, or whatever, you can't 'borrow' it from another beekeeper. If everyone is running on LL (Langstrove) equipment, you can 'borrow' and swap equipment as need be. Just something to keep in mind.

If after you get the hang of it, if you want to branch out to a TBH or a Warre Hive, feel free. It just has a few draw backs from the beginning. Not that you can't get around those though.

Welcome to the site!

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Welcome Chuck! Some swear by top bar hives while others swear at them. I have both for teaching at USF. You have to be more careful inspecting the hive and that hive absconded several times. Top bar hives do not make as much honey because they are building comb with the carbohydrates. Top bar hives have been around much longer. Langstroth hives are only 150 years old. Moving combs for extraction is listed as a TBH benefit, but I can move frames without the box too. TBH are supposed to be cheaper to make and maintain. I make Langstroths for $16 even when I pay full price for the wood. It is easier to get Langstroth sized scrap. The longest board is 20 inches. There aren't many TBH that short. Either way, get one and get started!

[dragonfly]

Welcome Chuck. I love top bar hives, and we a forum section devoted to their discussion. Please feel free to join in, and welcome to Beesource.