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46 Posts
The poll on starting with top bar hives is interesting. My question is did you stick with too bars or have you changed as you got more sophisticated. I understand the draw it has, as I am considering it myself. It seems cheaper to get started. But as you grew in knowledge and experience, does top bar remain to have its appeal.
I am intregued by the argument that cell size is more resilient to disease. But if that is true, why don't they just make the foundation have smaller cells? I like the fact that you don't need to lift off supers to inspect or work in hives.
On the down side, you can't get Nucs to fit top bar because the dimensions are not consistent enough since do it yourselfers tend to make things their own way. Seems like Nucs are much more available that are package bees. Especially if you want some off season. It's mid July and I still can get Nucs. But package bees are long gone now in my area. With all the spits people do during build up there are a lot of Nuc opportunities.
I am intregued by the argument that cell size is more resilient to disease. But if that is true, why don't they just make the foundation have smaller cells? I like the fact that you don't need to lift off supers to inspect or work in hives.
On the down side, you can't get Nucs to fit top bar because the dimensions are not consistent enough since do it yourselfers tend to make things their own way. Seems like Nucs are much more available that are package bees. Especially if you want some off season. It's mid July and I still can get Nucs. But package bees are long gone now in my area. With all the spits people do during build up there are a lot of Nuc opportunities.