Top bar beehives are an old concept renewed, dating back to early Greeks and Romans. The design found a niche with the hobby beekeeper mainly because it is rather inexpensive to get started and maintain compared to traditional Langstroth type hives.
Top bar hives can be constructed from virtually anything, which makes them ideal for developing third world countries.
    There are two types named for the region they come from. The Kenyan TBH which has angled sides and the Tanzanian which has straight sides like a box. There is much debate as to which works better, but that’s an argument for another time. My theory about the difference in design comes from materials at hand. Example: the sloped sides of a KTBH are a mimic of a hollowed log lying on its side and the straight sides of the TTBH come from the availability of boxes which negated the need to find or hollow out logs.
    The result of the ease with which these hives can be constructed is all over the internet and NO two are alike. They vary in size from large volume cavities with 24 inch top bars to small volume cavities with 12 inch top bars. Corresponding with TBH beekeepers all over the world has led to some interesting conclusions. Large volume keepers often have problems filling the cavity as the bees pick the size of the nest and often settle for the front third or half. Smaller volume keepers often have a problem keeping up with harvesting bars to keep room for new stores.
    From a basic colony biology view, the bees will find a cavity, establish a nest dictate the size of that nest and it’s needs, fill that nest and then switch focus to reproductive swarming and then again until it is time to switch focus to overwintering, next spring the cycle starts all over again. Our goal is to exploit the colony for hive products. There are good ways and bad ways to accomplish this. Working with the natural process of colony development without altering the bees and their environment chemically or genetically is what a TBH hive is perfect for. Simply put we are going to increase the time the bees are naturally focused on comb building, brood rearing and gathering stores. We are going to let them perform the afore mentioned tasks the way they want to.

All information contained here is my experience with my hive design in southern Germany. My climate is almost an identical match to the north east coast of the US (New Jersey, New York area).

FROM A NEW PACKAGE STARTED IN EARLY SPRING.

    To properly manage your hives you need to be an expert on the local flora and fauna. Know what is blooming and when. What are significant nectar sources? When are the flows and how long do they last. All these factors are what drive the hive. You do not tell the bees what to do and when. You make your manipulations when it fits to what they are currently doing.
Starting with a hive with the brood nest spacers removed and a package of bees, remove the queen cage and cover the hole, set the package aside for now. Remove the stopper from the cage exposing the candy, using wire hang the cage between bars 8 and 9 in the middle of the hive. Take the package place it in the rear of the hive and remove the feeder can. Put the inner cover in place and close the hive. Return to the hive in a day or so and check to see that the package is empty, if so remove it and add a feeder. If the queen is not released yet give them a couple of days, if she is not released by then or you see them building comb around the cage release her and remove the cage and any comb attached to it. Keep feeding the colony until they stop taking it.
Comb building will go in stages usually they will stick to one side and work to the back then you will see a shift in focus toward the empty side. Bees build comb of various cell sizes according to what the colony needs and when. They will have distinctive focuses in the priorities of work. Once the brood nest is established the priority will change to filling cells with nectar and pollen for brood rearing. When more room is needed the priority will change back to comb building. The queen will be in max egg laying mode, brood in various stages can be seen. At some time you will notice comb building has stopped and the bees seem to be content with the size of the nest. Now you want to be looking to make your first manipulation and split the brood nest to increase the population.

THE SECOND YEAR COLONY

    Colonies coming out of their first winter successfully should be assessed as soon as temps allow. When the temps hit the 50’s and the last frost has come you want to make that first inspection you have been dying to make since you saw the first bee emerge. During this inspection you want to assess the condition of the colony. Make sure there are eggs and make sure there are enough bees to cover the entire brood nest should you decide to split the nest with empty bars. If there are not enough bees or the hive seems weak they may need feeding to jump start the population. Honey from a trusted source preferably their own is the best, but if you don’t have that sugar syrup is the next best.

SPLITTING THE BROOD NEST

Advantages:
Stop swarming
Increase population
Increase production

    You must first determine if the hive is in a position to handle the additional stress you are about to put on it. The main question you need to answer is; Are there enough bees too cover brood I am about to expose? If you open the hive and see bees covering the comb and more on the sides with what appears nothing to do then yes you have more than enough.

     The key here is not to let the brood get chilled that would be a BIG step backwards in what we are trying to accomplish.
Splitting the brood nest is a very invasive and disruptive manipulation which could be equated to a catastrophic event happening if it were to occur naturally to a wild colony as the result of Mother Nature. A colonies survival instincts take over and the bees would recover by rebuilding or relocating. The splitting manipulation although invasive is not catastrophic enough to cause relocation and is performed while conditions are ideal for comb building.
Once you have determined you have enough brood you want to remove an empty bar from the back of brood bars and put it between the two middle bars of the brood nest. I successfully split the nest three times in a season. This manipulation is best performed in early to mid spring. When done correctly it will head off the swarm impulse and increase the colony population.