Top Bar Hive Bars

Whether it is a cathedral hive or a regular top bar hive proper ventilation from a roof is needed.

Top bar hive bars. Top bar hives have been around for a long time in fact some suggest the design is hundreds of years old. A top bar hive is a single story frameless beehive in which the comb hangs from removable bars. For accessories for your discontinued top bar hive see the discontinued top bar hive collection. Experts found evidence of its use dating back to 1686 in greece.

The bars form a continuous roof over the comb whereas the frames in most current hives allow space for bees to move up or down between boxes. Guaranteed to ship within 48 hours. No comb foundation material is used in top bar hives. Each top bar is laid across the hive with one end at the front of the box and the other at the back.

In comparison to the langstroth hive top bar hives provide an environment much closer to the conditions found in nature by wild and feral bees. The bees hang comb down from the top bars in essentially the same fashion as in a wild hive and the bees determine the cell size to suit their needs. You can find top bar beehives for sale from reputable online retailers such as bee built mann lake and etsy. Top bar hives require no heavy lifting and have legs that keep them at a comfortable waist level height.

Free shipping on orders over 75. It features individual bars laid across the top of the hive cavity. A ventilated roof on your hive. A top bar beehive is a single story hive that uses bars instead of frames.

A very good idea. The narrow top bars then needed an inner cover under the roof and a piece of canvas worked admirably. Many beekeepers will use top bars that have a small comb guide hanging down. With a top bar hive the combs can become very soft and fragile if the hive is overheating.

The number of top bars the hive will accommodate varies with the width of the box but as a reference a 42 box will use 28 top bars. The top bar hive is the oldest and most commonly used hive style in the world. Generally the bars are a wooden wedge or strip with a guide to ensure combs hang straight. The sidewalls of the hive body itself were at 15 degrees said to be more than adequate and the depth of the hive calculated such that each tbh comb when drawn down was equivalent to one langstroth brood comb.

Your top bar hive needs some type of roof to go over the flat lid of the hive.