Kenya Top Bar Hive
Smith sponsored by the canadian international development agency under an initial four year project begun in 1971.
Kenya top bar hive. The pre drilling also helps. I experimented with top bar hives in the early 1980 s and then used them when serving as a peace corps volunteer in fiji. A kenya style sloped sides is so that the combs are more naturally strong and less likely to break and collapse when they are full of honey. There are different types of hives used in beekeeping in kenya but the most important for commercial purposes are two the kenya top bar hive ktbh and the langstroth hives.
The kenyan top bar hive is a trough shaped hive that originated in kenya under the direction of canadian bee researcher dr maurice v. I made a kenya top bar hive ktbh so the sides of my hive are angled down to an 11 inch width bottom. I still occasionally maintain one or two kenya style top bar hives. This hive worked very well with no comb collapses.
I made the hive long enough to handle 30 hoffman top bars. Yattabeekeepers are the beekeeping equipment dealers in kenya. The following tables break down the kenya top bar hive into its individual components and provide instructions on how to cut and build those components. Lumber in a store is identified by its nominal size which is its rough dimension before it s trimmed and sanded to its finished size at the lumber mill.
The object of a top bar hive tbh is to be easy and cheap to construct easy to work and having natural sized cells. Kenya top bar hive. Our equipment range from langstroth hives ktbh hive tools smokers bee suits. The overall length of the hive is 34 3 4 inches and the hive is 19 inches deep.
To assemble a kenya top bar hive gather all your tools and components. Others are the log hives made from hollowed out tree trunks basket hives made from woven sticks which are smeared with mud and pot hives made of clay that are only used for small scale honey production. The hive commonly referred to as the kenyan top bar hive was developed by dr. The actual finished.
Gordon townsend from the university of guelph in canada sponsored by the canadian international development agency cida under an initial four year overseas project which began in kenya in 1971. The kenyan tbh is differentiated from the other common design the tanzania top bar hive by having sloped sides intended to minimize attachment. You begin at with bottom of the hive and work your way up and up.