How To Make A Top Bar Hive
A cardboard template is used to trace the outline of the barrel.
How to make a top bar hive. Paul can be contacted as. Or b attach a piece of twine coated in wax also centered on the top bar at least an inch from the ends of the top bar. The total length of this top bar hive will be a little over 4ft in total length. There are only a few simple rules you need to follow when you build your own hive we will go over those in this post but there is also a lot of room for creativity when building a top bar hive.
The first written report observing these hives comes from the 1600s. You ll be making around 30 top bars along with additional spacers. Distinct in shape and size the top bar beehive commonly features a single rectangular or tub shaped hive body with parallel bars. I moved a colony of bees into this hive using an unorthodox method that i had never tried before.
Rub some bee s wax on the molding. Add tip ask question comment download step 35. The back wall of the hive is moveable so the hive can expand as the colony grows. One more picture of the top bars installed in the hive.
This top bar hive will have 29 of these and be 17 long and 1 3 8 wide. The beehive legs are then attached using 2x4s cut at 3ft each. Or c carve a narrow groove into the top. Most hives of this type will be from 3ft to 5ft in total length.
A look at a beautifully made top bar hive made by paul macdonald. Top bar beehives may be one of the oldest forms of domestic beekeeping. This moulding will face down into the barrel when the bar sits on the frame. The top bar hive is trying to allow the bees to act naturally by providing them a hollow space while at the same time making it possible for the beekeeper to manage the hive properly.
In my view the top bar hive for the investment in time and money is totally unsuitable for keeping bees in the modern way because they are too difficult to manipulate. Since each top bar accounts for only half of the bee space required between combs a spacer should be placed between the first bar and the side of the hive.