A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[PotterWatch]

Can someone explain to me what a top bar hive is?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Think of a 55 gallon drum on its side cut in half like a trough. Then you cover it with slats that the bees build there own foundations from.

Cheap to build but the bees have to rebuild every time you harvest. Great for simplicity or people that use the wax but not as good for honey production.

 

[Beekissed]

A picture speaks a thousand words, so I will just direct you to a great site or two that shows and explains top bar hives:

http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/main.htm

http://www.biobees.com/

To me, as a woman, the top bar hives seem to make more sense. Only a man~Langstroth~could have devised so many parts and accessories to something so simple as a box for bees to live in!

I like to believe that somewhere, in some distant time in ancient Egypt (they were using them then!), some woman said, "Why not just build a box and put some pieces of wood on the top for them to use for comb building....geesh! Why is that so hard to understand?"

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
A top bar hive is one where the bees build their own comb on a "top bar" instead of on foundation. http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/kenya.htm

It is more simple than a Langstroth Hive and is often used in third world countries where people do not have access to extracting equipment required for Langstroth hive frames. It does have some disadvantages as the comb must be crushed to extract the honey or harvested as comb honey and typically produces less honey per hive. Top bars or frames without foundation can be put into a Langstroth hive body and bees can be allowed to draw their own comb, however it cannot be easily extracted with a spin extractor.

 

[Beekissed]

Wowza, Rebel! Those pics are perfect!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
They were using baskets sorta like ya see in the Indiana Jones movie to house bees back then.

The TBH was an invention of the Peace Corp I believe.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
The power of Google!

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
They were using baskets sorta like ya see in the Indiana Jones movie to house bees back then.

The TBH was an invention of the Peace Corp I believe.

Oops! Not Egypt...Greece!

In my book the Barefoot Beekeeper, it shows ancient masonry/clay TBHs from Greece. Not sure if the Peace Corp introduced those to Greece as far back as that, but the basket TBHs illustrated on this site depicts them being used with top bars as far back as 1682. The Peace Corp was established on March 1, 1961.


http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/kenya.htm

Rebel, do you know where the combs were attached on the straw skeps? Was it right on the straw? I know they had to destroy the skep to get the honey but I've never seen an explaination as to why they built them in this manner and where the bees drew their comb.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I remember reading somewhere on the net that a native bird built a straw nest that once abandoned would fill with bees. The nataves started making the nests there selves. The combs hung strait off the straw.

Remember they were dealing with killer bees or a precursor, they destroyed the bees an nest for safety. Thats a big plus for the TBH. You dont have to open the whole hive, just one bar at a time.

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks!

For all you folks wanting to get into beekeeping....what is the primary reason you wish to do so? Do you plan to do it for a long time or are you just trying it to see if you like it?