Top Bar Hive Construction
Dennis Murrell
Wyoming
This is the plan for my Top Bar Hive. The sides consist of three 1"x6"s. The bottom consist of two 1"x6"s. It is sloped 22.5 degrees off vertical and can hold 26 top bars, which are 1-1/4"s wide by 24"s long and a follower board or 27 top bars. The sides, bottom, and ends are cut to size and then glued together before assembly. Materials needed are:
Qty - Item
7 - 1"x6"x6'
3 - 2"x4" studs
3 - 1"x4"x6'
1 - 26"x36" plywood
1 - 23"x36"x1" insulation
I'm still toying with the idea of a sloped cover rather than a flat one as planned and haven't built the follower board. I have about $36 invested which is about 1/3 the cost of an equivalent conventional hive. Paint will have to wait for warmer weather.
Dennis Murrell
Wyoming
This is the plan for my Top Bar Hive. The sides consist of three 1"x6"s. The bottom consist of two 1"x6"s. It is sloped 22.5 degrees off vertical and can hold 26 top bars, which are 1-1/4"s wide by 24"s long and a follower board or 27 top bars. The sides, bottom, and ends are cut to size and then glued together before assembly. Materials needed are:
Qty - Item
7 - 1"x6"x6'
3 - 2"x4" studs
3 - 1"x4"x6'
1 - 26"x36" plywood
1 - 23"x36"x1" insulation
I'm still toying with the idea of a sloped cover rather than a flat one as planned and haven't built the follower board. I have about $36 invested which is about 1/3 the cost of an equivalent conventional hive. Paint will have to wait for warmer weather.










[IMG alt="The 26 topbars are 1-1/4"wide x 3/4"thick x 24"long. They are cut from 2" pieces of 2"x4"s. A 1/8" saw kerf is cut down the middle of each bar. A 1/4" x 7/8" chunk is taken off each end of the topbar. Then a 1/4" slot is cut in the middle of each topbar for the vertical support piece. The 16 vertical support pieces are 1/4"thick x 3/4"wide and 13-5/8"long. They will support my brood comb. I am leaving 10 bars without the vertical supports. Maybe it will be easier to harvest honey without them."]http://www.beesource.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/fig11.jpg[/IMG]











