One of the problems with TBH hives is cross combing. Getting the bees to build comb along the bar without curving the comb onto the adjoining bar has become a challenge. If left unchecked the comb can cross bars. This will create a pattern the bees will follow and it just gets worst. The hive will become impossible to inspect.
Correcting the problem early is the most prescribed advice today. Beekeepers will cut offending sections of comb out, leaving the piece which is straight behind and hope they build straight, this rarely works. A practice that has had some success is to cut the offending piece from the bar at the top and push it straight the bees reattach it and go from there.
A much more successful practice has been the use of comb guides. A comb guide is a strip of foundation, melted wax, wax coated wood strip attached to the bar to guide the bees on a straight line. One problem associated with this is the bees will sometimes attach to the guide only and not the full bar causing a week attachment and subsequent comb failure. In other words it is not fool proof. Once some nice straight comb has been established it is just a matter of splitting two straight bars with an empty bar so the bees have no choice but to stay on pattern building more straight comb.
As most of these practices occur in the brood nest it is easy to see they are intrusive and disruptive. Anything you do in the brood nest to correct problems YOU have with what the bees are doing goes against the natural course of events the bees have been following since the beginning of their existence.
In the above picture deep brood boxes wait to be shook into new TBH's
The Fix
If you want nice straight comb without fighting the bees natural instincts you have to back up in the cycle of events and examine the root cause. Once the root cause is determined you have to figure a way to eliminate it while allowing the natural course of events to continue uninterrupted. In this case the root cause is DESIGN of the hive. The design of the hive causes most of the problems beekeepers are most irritated about with the TBH. Going back to the root cause, simply put the space to build on is there for them to use in the first place! The top bars are pushed together to form the ceiling of the hive. In a Lang type hive there is space between the frames (The bee space). Bees can’t build on what’s not there! Here is where we “borrow” from the Lang but only temporarily. For example purposes I am going to use the bar widths I use in my hives. The bars in my brood nest are 11/4 inches wide. Knowing the bee space is ¼ inch I have cut ¼ inch off every bar. I have replaced the “Space” with ¼ inch spacers. This is not a new concept. Spacers are in use already in Europe but only as a means to increase the space between full size bars when needed! What I have is a brood chamber with 16 one inch bars with ¼ inch spacers between. The same goes for the honey chamber which is 18 bars long they are wider at 1 ¼ inches, (1 ½ with spacer) (SEE HIVE DESIGN SECTION).
Start with a spacer against the front wall and alternate to the end of the hive being sure to end with a spacer. To use this technique you will also have to insure there is a frame around the bars that sits high enough over the bars to allow the use of an inner cover. Right now you’re thinking all this is going to be is a glorified Lang type hive. I assure you we are not taking anything away from the TBH so read on before you make any hasty judgments!!! The inner cover will be installed after all the spacers are pulled. That’s right! Pull the spacers out and put the inner cover on until comb is established! Once comb is established you will pull the inner cover and reinstall the spacers. Using ¼ inch space above the bars also allows for a wide variety of ventilation options. I make two inner covers one for the brood chamber and a separate one for the honey chamber. One of the advantages of the TBH is being able to work a rear section while not exposing the whole hive to the intrusion. Keeping a cover over the brood nest allows inspection of the honey chamber with minimal disturbance to the brood area.
What I do is borrow the Lang method of frame spacing until the comb is nice and established and then I switch management to the TBH methods. This allows the bees to plan the hive the way they want it without having to constantly FIX what I thought needed to be fixed!
Bee friendly
An advantage to using spacers is the ability to close the hive in a timely manner. When closing conventional bars they must be slid forward. No matter how or what you use to get their heads down there are always casualties. Nothing is more horrifying than the sound of crushing bees between bars. With spacers the gap is not pushed closed horizontally it is closed vertically bringing the bar down from the top. Instead of squeezing the bees between two surfaces you push them into the hive!
Food for thought!
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