Horizontal Theory

[shannonswyatt]

You and me both!

I'll keep an eye on the lang side. If it starts getting crowded I'll do a split. I don't expect any production from this hive. I had intended to do a chop and crop, but it seems that may not be that easy.

[Adam Foster Collins]

I have 4 foot top bar hives and generally find that they will build them end-to-end if there is a strong colony in them. I have end entrances. I agree that if you keep empty bars in the brood nest (entrance end) they will continue to build comb and the queen will lay it full of eggs. One thing though, is you can make an awful lot of bees this way too. I see no issues with the bees moving horizontally. They do it across 10 frame lang boxes.

I like top bar hives.

Adam