Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
MEMBER BULLETIN BOARD => PHOTO PAGE - MEMBER PHOTOS & BEE-MOVIES HERE! => Topic started by: jeremy_c on May 21, 2009, 12:22:12 pm
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Here are two shots of my first apiary. I have 4 Langstroth hives and 4 top bar hives. You'll see two top bar hives that still need a proper roof built :-)
(http://jeremy.cowgar.com/files/Apiary-2009.jpg)
A little more focused on the top bar hives:
(http://jeremy.cowgar.com/files/Apiary-2009-TopBarHivesSM.jpg)
Jeremy
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Very nice. Like the looks of the hives.
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Very nice, you have a pretty location there.
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Nice set-up!
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Looks like a beautiful place to start an Apiary.best of luck to you and your bees.
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Very very nice setup - it looks like you have stained and clear coated the hive bodies? I really prefer that method myself, it makes for a very classic "Cabin-like" look and feel and although (long-term) upkeep may be a bit more laborious, it is worth all the effort.
Best of luck, great looking hives, wonderful location and the spacing really is gonna make life easy for you - nice job!
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The apiary looks great.
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4 top bar hives
How does these work exactly? By the way your apiary really looks good. I like how you have the hives all nice and neatly set out.
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4 top bar hives
How does these work exactly? Buy the way your apiary really looks good. I like how you have the hives all nice and neatly set out.
Thank you for the comment about apperance. I like it to look decent, but also functional.
About the top bar hive. It never grows vertically, only horizontally. In side there are two boards that are false backs, they are called follower boards. To start with, those follower boards may be 8 bars wide. As the colony grows, you move the follower boards further out and add more bars for the bees to build on. Once you get to the point of wanting or needing to harvest honey, you simply remove the desired number of bars that contains honey comb and replace them with empty bars on which the bees will begin to build again. The bars have no foundation and no frame. They are simply pieces of wood that span the top of the hive. They usually have (mine do) guides running down the center of the bar that the bees will use as a straight line so they build straight comb. The guides on my bars are nothing more than a groove cut in the bar then popcicle sticks glued into those grooves. When harvesting honey, you simply pull the bar, cut the comb off into a bucket, crush and strain. The bees get to build comb the way they like it, you get to harvest honey simply and wax as well. If you do not wish for wax, it may be a bit of a waste (the wax harvest that is). You can learn more about top bar hives on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-bar_hive ... Oh, also inspections are quite easy because of two things... 1. I have an observation window so a lot can be done from it, many times there is no need to do an actual inspection, just open the window, take a peek and close. 2. When you inspect, you are not opening the top of the entire hive. You are simply removing 1 bar exposing only that bar to the outside.
Jeremy
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I thank you for your reply. The way you have described these hives and the site you gave me I might just check into these and maybe purchase one to see how it goes. Thanks again.
James
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I thank you for your reply. The way you have described these hives and the site you gave me I might just check into these and maybe purchase one to see how it goes. Thanks again.
James, do some research on the Internet, search for Top Bar Hive. Also, here on beemaster, there is a forum dedicated to top bar hives, you may read in there as well. There are top bar hives available for purchase but they are pretty easy to build, I believe that's what most people do (what I did as well). Over all cost for mine w/the plexiglass observation window was about $75.00 and that is all I will ever pay for it, i.e. I do not later need to buy more supers, deeps, queen excluders, etc...
Jeremy
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Very very nice setup - it looks like you have stained and clear coated the hive bodies? I really prefer that method myself, it makes for a very classic "Cabin-like" look and feel and although (long-term) upkeep may be a bit more laborious, it is worth all the effort.
Best of luck, great looking hives, wonderful location and the spacing really is gonna make life easy for you - nice job!
Thank you! As for the hives, the langstroth hives are paraffin dipped. The top bar hives were done in linseed oil and bees wax which I later learned may not have been the best option. For me, I want my apiary to be functional as a top priority, be natural/look good as a second priority. I don't consider myself lazy as I'll do the work when necessary, but I would like to have things setup so that I don't have to do constant work for upkeep. So, for future hives, I may continue the paraffin dipping or move to paint. I really do like the looks of the natural wood though. One of my lifes motos was given to me as a kid from Scrooge McDuck on Duck Tails (of all places). He said "Work smarter, not harder" :-) I'm sure someone else said it first, but I heard it from him first.
Jeremy
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it says your from ohio, i am too. my question is this, i thought in the state of Ohio you couldnt do the those type of hives. How do you get by with the inspections?
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it says your from ohio, i am too. my question is this, i thought in the state of Ohio you couldnt do the those type of hives. How do you get by with the inspections?
I'm not aware of any law that says what type of hive you have to use. Can you point me to the law that says my top bar hives are illegal?
Jeremy
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it says your from ohio, i am too. my question is this, i thought in the state of Ohio you couldnt do the those type of hives. How do you get by with the inspections?
I emailed my local state inspector (well actually he notified me he was not the inspector for this summer, although he is listed as one) and this is the response I got:
There is a law in Ohio that states a hive must have removable frames to allow for inspections. A top bar hive meets that condition. The purpose of the law was to eliminate gum tree hollow log hives (and Skeps) and allow the inspection for American foul Brood without damaging the hive.
Jeremy
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I heard back from my official county inspector and there is no law against top bar hives. There is a law that says you must keep any hive in order. When they come out to inspect a hive, they need to be able to inspect it. This could make a Langstroth Hive, a Top Bar hive or any other hive illegal if it is not kept up, has serious cross-comb building, etc... If that's the case, they can issue a citation and you must correct the problem w/in 1 year.
Jeremy
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it says your from ohio, i am too. my question is this, i thought in the state of Ohio you couldnt do the those type of hives.
Howdy, I got an email back from the state inspector this morning. A top bar hive is not illegal in Ohio, it's a valid hive type.
Jeremy,
No top bar hives are not illegal in Ohio. Care has to be taken during manipulation as the new combs are delicate and may fall off the top bar.
Andrew Kartal
Apiary Inspector
Jeremy