II. CONSTRUCTION OF TOP BAR HIVES

2. What are good dimensions for TBH's?

Dimensions are not critical for the hive. A good starting point would be the size of three full-size, deep, standard brood chambers placed side by side. This should produce a TBH that would require 30 TB's. Try 85cm long, 30cm deep, and 50.5cm wide if you're more comfortable with specific dimensions. The only really important dimension is the width of the TB which varies with the species of bee.

25.4mm = 2.54cm = 1 inch

3. How are TB's made?

For Italian honeybees, the width of the TB should be 35mm, for African bees, 32mm. The bars can be cut on a table saw from new lumber or scrap wood. If scrap wood is used, avoid wood that might be treated or contaminated with insecticides or noxious chemicals. If wood isn't available, then tree limbs or bamboo of appropriate diameter can be used.

I cut a centered groove or “kerf” 1/4 inch deep the length of my TB's. A foundation strip is waxed into the groove or a bead of wax can be melted into the groove using a heat gun. On one side of the center of the bar, I cut a 3/8 x 3/4 inch notch. This notch is useful to observe where the bees are, and how far comb has been drawn out. The notches are covered with thin strips of some material such as plywood or masonite unless I wish to give the hive ventilation or provide more entrances.

1 inch = 2.54cm = 25.4mm

4. Are there different types of TBH's?

Two general types: those with sloping sides (Kenya TBH) and those with straight sides (Tanzanian). The hives with sloping sides supposedly allow the bees to build a natural, crescent-shaped comb that is attached to the sides very little. In practice, I have seen little difference in the amount of comb attachment whether the sides are sloped or straight.

If you wish to build a hive with sloping sides, try an angle of at least 14 degrees from the vertical 22.5 works well also.

5. What is a catenary TBH?

This is a variation on the top-bar/natural comb concept.

The hive has the sides and bottoms fashioned from a single sheet of curved, thin plywood. Such a hive is about the same size as a standard hive, and is enlarged for surplus space by providing upper story’s ("supers"), as with a conventional frame-hive. The top-bars do not form a covering in this case--a bee-space/passage exists between each pair of top bars, again, like in a frame-hive. The catenary-hive top-bars are about 1" wide; this gives bees open access to combs above the brood nest. The typical inner cover and outer cover are used on top. The colony therefore expands vertically in a catenary hive, and not horizontally as in the usual (long) top-bar hives. There are photographs and drawings of this type of TBH on p.305 of Eva Crane's "Bees and Beekeeping"

III. MANAGEMENT AND MANIPULATIONS OF TOP BAR HIVES

1. Where should TBH's be placed?

This, of course, depends on your location with respect to latitude, amount of precipitation, prevailing winds, etc. If it's extremely hot, shade is desirable. Overheating in the sun can result in the combs sagging or falling. Remember, there are no wires or plastic reinforcing the comb midrib. Within a season or two, the brood combs will become quite strong and remarkably durable. Some Egyptian beekeepers visiting a friend of mine in the Atlanta, GA USA area said that our hives need to be in the sun more...that shade made diseases more of a problem.

I place my hives on a stand so that I can work them without bending over. Paul Magnuson said that in South Africa, some hives were placed on stacks of old tires which worked well, though the hives sagged a bit in hot weather. In cases where the hives are plagued by ants or other crawling insects, the hives have been suspended by wires.

2. How can damage to TBH's by bears, badgers, or other animals be prevented?

Try an electric fence or chain link fence enclosures. Paul Magnuson tells of a friend in South Africa who digs pits under his TBH's which are suspended by wires. The ratels or "honey badgers" attempt to get to the hives, but repeatedly fall into the pits and eventually stop. The pits would need to be too large for this to work with bears. :)

If they are suspended rather than supported on the ground, they could be hoisted up high enough to be impervious to bears.

3. Do bees kept in TBH's get diseases and mites?

Yes, TBH's have no special protection against mites and diseases, however there is research supporting the fact that naturally built comb with smaller cell sizes interrupts the mites breeding cycle and promotes a healthier environment.

4. How does management of TBH's differ from conventional hives?

Most of the general principles with respect to TBH management are the same as for conventional hives. The beekeeper needs to manage for a good population of foraging bees timed with the honey flow. TBH's can have poor queens that need to be replaced. Principles of re-queening, making splits, evaluating stores for winter, etc. are all the same as for conventional beekeeping. But there are differences.

With an end ("front") entrance, the brood nest will naturally be found on the first several combs, and the surplus honey will naturally be stored toward the rear (away from the entrance).

Since the bees must expand laterally, it may be desirable to pay more attention to spreading the brood to get good population buildup, and it may require that you watch for the colony becoming honey bound.

You may find it necessary to regularly remove capped surplus combs and to shift bars that are being drawn more toward the brood area. While some vertical queen excluders have been used, it is feasible to place a fully capped comb between your surplus bars and the brood area so that a honey barrier is present to help confine the queen.

5. How are TBH's worked?

If the entrance holes are at one end, I puff a small amount of smoke at the entrance, and wait perhaps a minute. If a good honey flow is on and the weather is good, smoke probably would not be necessary with my Italian bees but I use a little anyhow. Some smoke is puffed underneath the arching top covers in case paper wasps have started a nest underneath.
Starting at the rear of the hive, I remove the first bar which will probably not be drawn out completely, and place that bar in a holder. I have made a cradle to hold bars as I work on them, but I also use 5-bar nuc boxes or 5-bar "supers" to hold the bars that are removed. Moreover, the stands on which I have placed my hives have supports that are spaced far enough apart that they can be used to hold TB's.

I remove a couple of bars, then work forward toward the brood area, shifting the inspected bar to the rear. Only a small gap of a couple of bars is necessary to give plenty of room to remove bars. Often there is a small amount of comb attachment to the sides at the upper two inches of the comb, but the attachments are easily freed with a hive tool. If the bar is then place on a cradle, the rough sides where the attachments were can be trimmed smooth with scissors after which the bees are less inclined to reattach the comb to the sides. This is especially true if the wax is scraped from the sides also. Rarely there may be a few places where a comb is attached to the bottom of the hive in which case the hive tool will free it also. All of the wax scraps go into the solar wax melter.

Proceeding on to the brood area, I make my assessment of the hive conditions in the same way as with conventional hives. If a comb needs replacing for any reason, I'll move it to the back of the hive for the bees to clear it after which the comb and bar go to my solar wax melter. I will place a new bar with a starter strip of foundation between two straight combs so that I get a good comb drawn, especially during a good honey flow. After finishing the inspection, I shift the bars forward and replace the one or two bars I originally removed. If the hive has holes down both sides, I start at either end, work to the center, then replace the bars. After that the other side can be examined or additional work postponed until the next visit.

6. What tools are commonly required to work TBH's?

The same tools that are used with conventional hives: hat, veil, smoker, hive tool, are helpful. I occasionally use gloves and a long sleeved shirt. I prefer a hive tool that is about a foot long. Mine is made from a 12 inch shelf bracket, but the Italian hive tools being sold by some suppliers in the USA are about the same size. Many kitchen utensils...spatulas, knives, etc. would serve well in working a TBH. Sometimes a spray bottle with water or sugar syrup or sugar syrup with some mixture of "essential oils" comes in handy... I enjoy the odor of peppermint. :)

7. Is it necessary to use any foundation in TBH's?

Unless some type of starter strip is used to establish a point for the bees to build comb, the combs may be oriented across multiple bars with the result that they are not movable. A starter strip may be nothing more than a 2cm strip of paper that has been dipped in melted beeswax. Paul Magnuson describes gluing a hardwood strip about 10mm wide to the bottom of a TB so that the strip, projecting downward, gives a point for the bees to begin building. He also has used two TB's to form a mold channel on the bottom of a third TB. Melted beeswax is poured into the channel and, after a few moments of cooling, the resulting ridge of beeswax can shaped further by the fingers to give a foundation strip. Purchased foundation can be cut into 2cm strips and waxed into grooves along the center bottom of the TB. Joel Govostes said that he had read of twine being dipped in molten beeswax and applied centrally along the underside of each top-bar to make a starting ridge for comb construction.

Thin sheets of wax can be made by soaking a smooth, thin board in cold water, then dipping the board into melted beeswax. The temperature of the wax, number of dips, speed of dipping, all will determine the thickness of the sheet. The dipped board is plunged back into cold water, and then cut around the edge of the board with a knife. This results in two sheets of wax which can be cut into strips. Scissors heated in boiling water work well for cutting strips.

Using a starter strip that is wider than about 2cm, or even 1cm, appears to be of little value. I tried using strips that were about 10cm wide, found that the bees could build large combs downward from the edge of the strip before the combs were built up and attached well to the TB. This resulted in a comb breaking off the bar during the heat of the summer with the newly built comb heavy from honey, brood, and the weight of the attending bees. I suggest that narrow starter strips be used.

Some TBH beekeepers have tried using triangular bars with one point of the triangle pointing downward, the base of the triangle forming the roof surface of the TBH. The downward point was dipped in melted beeswax to give the surface for the bees to begin building.

In the case of using tree branches or bamboo of appropriate diameter, beeswax can be rubbed on the "bottom" of the TB's to give an appropriate surface for the bees to begin building comb.

8. How can bees in TBH's be encouraged to build straight combs?

If a new bar with a starter strip of some type of foundation is placed between two bars with straight combs, then the comb that is drawn should be straight if a good honey flow is on and the hive population is good.

9. What can be done if the bees in TBH's make crooked combs?

I would remove the crooked combs and put the combs and bars in the solar wax melter. They can be replaced with a few straight combs taken from other colonies or new bars with foundation strips. I seek to accumulate good, straight brood combs over the years. This is a good, practical goal, and is not difficult. Some of the older, dark combs may gradually be replaced when necessary.

10. Is the lack of 100% worker cells a problem in TBH's since no full sheets of foundation are used?

During the spring buildup with a good honey flow, mostly worker cells will be drawn on combs built in the brood area. Toward the outside of those combs, more drone brood appears. I don't worry about the proportions...the bees know what they need. Drone brood can be cut out to aid in Varroa control. Again, that comb would go into the solar wax melter.

I don't care what the makeup of the comb is in the surplus area, nor if the combs are straight or interconnected somewhat. They will be removed eventually, the honey pressed out, and then those combs go (yep!) to the solar wax melter.

11. What can be done if a comb is stuck in a TBH?

The only comb that can ever give me trouble is the first comb that is in the TBH, especially if it is in a 5-bar nuc. There may be some attachments at the ends and also to the side of the box. In this case, I take a long, thin "knife" that I made by sharpening a hacksaw blade, and slide the knife along between the comb and the side. This frees the comb from the side.

What about the ends of the comb? I use a simple solution devised by Wyatt Mangum: take a piece of stiff wire and bend it into a Z shape. Make the wire long enough to extend down to the bottom of the hive, with the near end above the level of the top-bars. Pry the bar away enough to insert the wire at one end of the bar. Push the wire all of the way to the bottom. Pivot the wire to bring the bottom of the Z beneath the edge of the comb, and then pull upward which breaks the comb loose. Repeat at the other end of the TB.

If the bar is stuck in an area of honey surplus bars, I simply tear the bar off then free the comb with the hive tool, lift it out, and deposit it in my collection tub. It will eventually be pressed, so I don't care if it is broken into several pieces. Bees clean up any honey that has dripped.

12. What can be done if a TB comb breaks?

If the comb is a valuable brood comb, I would tie the comb back to the TB and replace it in the hive for the bees to reattach. Sew it to the bar low on the comb, 4 to 5 wraps and tie the loose ends. Dental floss is great for this. If the comb is not to be salvaged, move it to the rear of the hive to let the bees clean it out after which you can melt it down for wax.

13. How can the combs be easily ridden of adhering bees?

I use a brush to remove the bees. Large goose feathers also work reasonably well or a handful of grass might do the job. I usually brush the bees downward, very quickly into the gap in the hive where the comb was removed. The bees crawl rapidly back toward the darkness of the undisturbed sections of the TBH.

14. Is swarming a problem with TBH beekeeping?

I don't have enough experience with TBH's to give an assessment of this. Since swarming is a natural phenomenon, there is no reason to think that it should occur less in a TBH than in a conventional hive.

Several of my TBH's swarmed this last year and it didn't always seem to be related to huge populations in the hive. Presumably the same techniques of managing swarming that are applied to conventional hives should apply to TBH, except for adding supers. On a TBH, I'd spread the brood, remove surplus combs that are capped, make splits if desirable, and keep a young, vigorous queen in the hive. One could go though the hive and inspect the combs for queen cells, but I've never taken the time nor had the inclination to do that. I simply let them swarm and try to capture the swarm to unite with a weak hive if possible. Some swarms are lost, but that's just the facts of life of beekeeping. :)

15. How are swarms hived in a TBH?

Hive the swarm in the same way as in a conventional hive. Dump the swarm into the hive and replace the TB's, or put a board and/or sheet up to the hive entrance, dump the bees out, get some started inside, then sit back and watch in awe as the colony flows inside.

Realize that the colony has no surface area of frames with wired foundation on which to disperse. They will "festoon", or hang, in bunches from the top-bars in order to begin building combs. It is best not to disturb or break their clusters at this point, until the combs have been at least partially completed. It is best to have some drawn
combs in place, and it's particularly good to have a comb with brood underway. I feel that the bees are better disposed to stay in that case. You may wish to feed the new colony at first to enable it to draw combs rapidly. If a strong honey flow is on, the sugar syrup may be ignored at first.

16. How do you best divide a TBH?

Take at least three combs with bees, pollen, honey, and brood and place them in a 5-bar nuc box. The old queen is removed with the combs or you can introduce a new queen in a cage. Feeding this nuc helps it become established before it is put into a full-size TBH. 5-bar nucs have only two entrance holes, but you still need to watch for robbing to get started, especially if you put a feeder jar on top of the nuc.

17. How can a package of bees be installed in a TBH?

Handle them much the same way as for conventional hives. Remove a few of the TB's and dump the bees out into the hive. If you've placed any drawn comb in the hives up toward the front, there may be room in the hive to put the opened package on its side inside the hive. The container of sugar syrup that came in the package can be supported by a couple of pieces of wood, some stones, or twigs placed inside the hive. The bees can feed on the remaining sugar syrup. I remove the plug from the queen cage, and suspend the cage between two bars or over at the side of the hive. You can use thin hardware cloth queen cages that Wyatt Mangum has designed. Those cages are described under a "re-queening" question a little farther on in this FAQ file.

18. Can bees and combs in a conventional hive be converted to a TBH?

Sure, making packages and installing into the TBH is easier. If the equipment is of similar size adapting the frames should be a matter of making some shims to make up the width of the TB.

19. Can queen excluders or queen barriers be used in TBH's?

Some beekeepers have cut queen excluders to fit vertically in the TBH's and attached them to TB's. It should be easy enough to do if the hive body is rectangular. Excluders that Wyatt Mangum has made for his Kenya TBH's with sloping sides used plastic or metal slotted material, cut it to size and shape, and then put a wood frame around it.

A filled, capped comb forms a good honey barrier for the queen, but mostly I just don't worry. If the queen has gotten into the surplus area combs, simply cut out the area where brood was found, press the honey, and into the wax melter with the rest. If the comb is nice and has brood in it, shift it to the brood area or use it for a nuc if desirable.

20. How are TBH's over wintered?

The same basic principles of over wintering that apply to conventional hives should apply to TBH's: adequate food reserves, provide good ventilation, insulate hives if necessary, and provide entrances for flight on warm winter days.

There are some other things that can be done with TBH's. A plywood or other type of partition can attached to a TB to make "follower boards". This bar can be placed in the hive to reduce the volume. A large chunk of fondant can be placed in the bottom incase they are able to break cluster and feed.

21. How are TBH's fed?

This is the joy of TBH's. Combs of honey and pollen can be switched from one hive to another very easily, but if sugar syrup is needed it's easy to put feeder jars or baggies *inside* the hive. I also use a "feeder bar" made by attaching a U shaped channel of 1/2 inch hardware cloth (sand screen) to a TB. Candy, extender patties, or pollen substitute patties can be placed in the channel of the U.

22. Can quality queen cells be produced in TBH's?

Certainly, most of the procedures used to produce queens in conventional hives work as well in TBH's. There is also some advantage to using TBH's as well. I have made up bars with downward extensions and pivoting cross bars to which queen cell cups are fixed for grafting. Raise the queen cells in 5-bar queenless confined nucs. A 5-bar nuc above free-flying queenless colonies worked well for queen rearing. Use the queen excluder bar described in a previous question.

The best way to get queen cells is to use the method described by Marty Hardison in "Developmental Beekeeping", No.33 December 1994. He took a brood comb from a colony in which the queen had desirable qualities, cut strips with eggs from the comb, and then tied the strips to bars with monofilament fishing line. It's easy to use a low wattage soldering iron to melt beeswax onto a bar, then wax the comb strips to the bar... or queen cell cups to a bar if grafting. This method of using strips is very much like the "Miller Method" described in Laidlaw's book on queen rearing.

The usual result is six or so queen cells formed per bar. Not all of them will be of good quality. The largest and best formed cells are cut out, waxed to a bar with the soldering iron, and then a cage is waxed around the cell to confine the virgin queen when she emerges. Introduce virgin queens into mating nucs, or simply use the "ripe" cells directly.

A 5-bar mating nuc either made by dividing a 5-bar nuc in half and making entrance holes at both ends, or simply making up a small nuc half the size of the regular 5-bar nuc, gives better results. It's possible to stock the nucs with a cup of bees gathered by brushing bees off brood combs, take a brood comb with bees, larvae, and pupae at different stages, cut a section out of the center of the comb, then saw the bar in half. I end up with two functioning combs for my queen nucs. Try that with a conventional frame. :) A dollop of queen candy can help the nuc get a good start. Small feeder bars are useful for holding the queen candy or marshmallows and other commercial candies which seem to work well. Give the nuc a ripe queen cell or introduce a caged virgin queen, then check back in a couple of weeks.

[Tim Haarmann] It might be worth mentioning to people to standardize the dimensions their hives and top bars. That way when you start moving brood and honey around between hives, or queen rearing, everything is much easier. With some of my friends who use different dimensions than I do, when exchanging stuff, we have had to cut too many combs and bars to make it worth it. Seems like a simple recommendation, but one worth mentioning.