I have been talking to my wife about building my own top bar when I have enough money (for bees, I have enough lumber lying around to make a hive). Well, she decided to surprise me and ordered a 5 frame nuc from a local apiarist. Awesome thing for her to do...but now I have to figure out how to put that nuc into my top bar hive. Is there an easy way to do this? I am praying the apiarist doesn't use hard plastic frames.
Transferring a nuc to a top bar.
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Well, you could decide to build a horizontal hive, which is shaped like a top bar with vertical sides. Then you could just transfer the frames. More here:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeshorizontalhives.htm
If you want a TBH with sloped sides, cutting comb and frame to fit is one option, or you could do the equivalent of a cutout where the comb is cut off the frame and attached to your top bar.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beeshorizontalhives.htm
If you want a TBH with sloped sides, cutting comb and frame to fit is one option, or you could do the equivalent of a cutout where the comb is cut off the frame and attached to your top bar.
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As Rader said, a straight-sided long hive is one option. The hive in the following picture I threw together with some old barn boards and installed a five frame nuc. After the hive gets building some new comb those frames can be eventually weaned out (or left there if you want.) As you can see in the photo, I would just cover that part of the hive with a thin piece of plywood.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Bees in Wisconsin/nucinstalledintbh.jpg
The only thing I don´t like about them is the size of the comb—big. You need to handle them carefully or they are going to break, especially the new combs.
If you end up doing a “chop and crop” and cut the comb out of the frames, consider using a type of frame to tie in the comb. If you are a bit handy with a table saw they aren’t that hard to make. This cutout is a bit of a messy job but if that is what you have to do then that is what you have to do. The frame’s advantage is that it makes dealing with the comb real easy compared to some of the other methods of attaching comb to top bars.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Jamaica Beekeeping/BeekeepinginJamaica122.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Jamaica Beekeeping 2013/102_7823.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Beecolonyinthecementary006.jpg
Now, if they really are plastic frames they can be cropped also—using a jig saw. I haven´t done any laid up with brood but I have done some with empty comb to give to a package I put into a tbh. I used some drywall screws to attach it to a top bar. The photo shows that comb after the queen had it filled with brood.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/...isconsin/GGCheckingtrapswithGregJune08062.jpg
Another option is to remove two of the frames and slip in empty top bars. Leave a frame of comb on either side of the bar. If it’s a decent nuc, the bees should be able to draw out those bars and lay it up with eggs pretty fast. Those two bars will be a lot easier to trim to size.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Jamaica Beekeeping 2013/102_7422.jpg
Find the queen and shake the bees out and into the top bar hive with just those two pieces of comb (sort of like doing a package in a way but with the queen already accepted). As far as the frames that will be eliminated, maybe there is a nearby beekeeping friend who can do something with them so as to not waste the brood.
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Tom
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Bees in Wisconsin/nucinstalledintbh.jpg
The only thing I don´t like about them is the size of the comb—big. You need to handle them carefully or they are going to break, especially the new combs.
If you end up doing a “chop and crop” and cut the comb out of the frames, consider using a type of frame to tie in the comb. If you are a bit handy with a table saw they aren’t that hard to make. This cutout is a bit of a messy job but if that is what you have to do then that is what you have to do. The frame’s advantage is that it makes dealing with the comb real easy compared to some of the other methods of attaching comb to top bars.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Jamaica Beekeeping/BeekeepinginJamaica122.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Jamaica Beekeeping 2013/102_7823.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Beecolonyinthecementary006.jpg
Now, if they really are plastic frames they can be cropped also—using a jig saw. I haven´t done any laid up with brood but I have done some with empty comb to give to a package I put into a tbh. I used some drywall screws to attach it to a top bar. The photo shows that comb after the queen had it filled with brood.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/...isconsin/GGCheckingtrapswithGregJune08062.jpg
Another option is to remove two of the frames and slip in empty top bars. Leave a frame of comb on either side of the bar. If it’s a decent nuc, the bees should be able to draw out those bars and lay it up with eggs pretty fast. Those two bars will be a lot easier to trim to size.
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s313/Tomas_fotos/Jamaica Beekeeping 2013/102_7422.jpg
Find the queen and shake the bees out and into the top bar hive with just those two pieces of comb (sort of like doing a package in a way but with the queen already accepted). As far as the frames that will be eliminated, maybe there is a nearby beekeeping friend who can do something with them so as to not waste the brood.
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Tom
The sides are sloped to prevent the bees from attaching the comb to the sides of the hive--not for strength. This way, frames are removable. W/ a long lang, if you use standard frames, then the frames are still removable--just square.
I second starting w/ a standard hive. Get used to the bees then play w/ a top bar. I started w/ a Warre and then moved to standard langs. Still have one Warre--it's nice but a pain to deal w/. Can't swap frames to other hives and when I extract it takes twice as long because I have to treat as deep frames and flip during the extraction process (my extractor only allows the use of med and shallow frames in the radial position). Not only that, it is taller than my langs put produces less honey for the height.
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Since you haven't already built the TBH think long lang. Others have suggested it by way of building it square. And honestly from our experience with Top Bars, I can easily envision a square top bar sending the bees into heavenly comb building with brace comb on the side walls galore. Even with our angled boxes they still love brace comb. We were gifted TBH's when we first began with honey bees. We have run into a significant number of unique challenges when it come to managing the hive starting with the complications of handling fully laden bars through and including basic IPM techniques, but most of that has been how the hives were originally built [entrance holes vs more traditional entry slats]. We are taking baby steps and have purchased a 30 frame long lang to replace one of the hives that didn't overwinter.
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