Migratory Tops

[Ben Framed]

 I recently watched a video of a fella grading migratory beehives for the almond orchards.  I noticed that the tops were simply made by butting up boards next to each other and held together by strips running down the ends.  From the side view, these do not appear to be tongue and groove buttings but simply placed side by side, with the end strips holding them in place. Is this a common practice for migratory beehives? I assume the bees will  propolise any gaps between the boards, sealing to keep rain out? And the tops were painted white. I was surprised to see this. These tops look to have been thrown together by whatever material which might have been handy.
Thanks "Ben Framed"

[BeeMaster2]

Ben,
That is what a lot of them are made of.
There is also a plywood that does not rot that is used and it is much better at protecting the bees.
Jim

[jalentour]

Ben, I use migratory tops nearly year round.  I put flashing on them to protect from weather and use an inner cover in the summer.  A lot cheaper than the standard top.  I use plywood and throw them away when they wear out. 

[Ben Framed]

Ben,
That is what a lot of them are made of.
There is also a plywood that does not rot that is used and it is much better at protecting the bees.
Jim

I use plywood myself, along with foam board as suggested by some of you here. The shabby tops that was seen on the inspection video surprised me. I couldn't have imagined, but apparently they work and work well? 

[BeeMaster2]

Ben,
I think you will find that the regular plywood will start falling apart in just a few years unless it is really protected inside and out.
Jim

[Ben Framed]

Ben, I use migratory tops nearly year round.  I put flashing on them to protect from weather and use an inner cover in the summer.  A lot cheaper than the standard top.  I use plywood and throw them away when they wear out.

Thanks I also use plywood with a foam board as a inner cover. The tops which I describe look to be made from any scrap lumber of different widths, not tounge and groove either, can't be sealed from board to board? This surprised me. 

[johnwratcliff]

I use advantech. I put a coat of paint on them. I don?t pay anything for them. There are a ton of home builders in the area and I use up the scrap.

[Ben Framed]

I use advantech. I put a coat of paint on them. I don?t pay anything for them. There are a ton of home builders in the area and I use up the scrap.

advantech Is the way to go. Unfortunately, as many homes which are being built in my area, very few, if any, are being built with the advantage of advantech, unless the builders are having it shipped in specifically direct from the manufacturers or some other source. I have called lumber companies, building supply companies etc and the only place that I have found it is ONE Lowes in the Memohis area. And even this is from a selection of  approximately 10-13 Lowes locations in the Memphis and surrounding areas. You are fortunate that your local builders use advantech, and so are the home buyers in your location. Thank you for your reply.

[Michael Bush]

Usually they are either plywood with no seams or tongue and groove.

[Barhopper]

Fir HDO like what?s on metal concrete forms is the best, IMO, but pricey. I?m trying Advantech on some Nucs this year. As you stated I get a piece from Lowe?s when they have it.

[sc-bee]

I recently watched a video of a fella grading migratory beehives for the almond orchards.  I noticed that the tops were simply made by butting up boards next to each other

Ben Framed:
All this about what or how to make a migratory top... yes cheap is one issue but you do know the reason for the migratory top design... correct

[Ben Framed]

I recently watched a video of a fella grading migratory beehives for the almond orchards.  I noticed that the tops were simply made by butting up boards next to each other

Ben Framed:
All this about what or how to make a migratory top... yes cheap is one issue but you do know the reason for the migratory top design... correct

Yes, from what I understood, they are designed to be stacked on top of one another, as well as side to side as compactly as possible for shipping purposes. The initial video brought the original question is what surprised me. How thrown together the tops in that video were made.

[sc-bee]

I recently watched a video of a fella grading migratory beehives for the almond orchards.  I noticed that the tops were simply made by butting up boards next to each other

Ben Framed:
All this about what or how to make a migratory top... yes cheap is one issue but you do know the reason for the migratory top design... correct

Yes, from what I understood, they are designed to be stacked on top of one another, as well as side to side as compactly as possible for shipping purposes. The initial video brought the original question is what surprised me. How thrown together the tops in that video were made.

Keepers that have to do it for a living have to be frugal... bees don't care whether it is scrap or grade 1. It don't take long to throw a cleat on the end of an old scrap board that is not any good for anything else....

[Ben Framed]

Keepers that have to do it for a living have to be frugal... bee don't care whether it is scrap or grade 1. It don't take long to throw a cleat on the end of an old scrap board that is not any good for anything else....

And that is what surprised me. I try to build my tops to fit square to the top box to avoid cracks in between the face of the top and the face of the top box. And these hives being graded on the video as new arrivals to the almond fields, looked to be thrown together with boards buted together with small gaps in between. Apparently they must have came from a warm dry climate. I wish I would have filed that video for you to see. Is what I just described normal?

[BeeMaster2]

Ben,
I have seen commercial hives that looked like they were ready for the scrap heap. As long as it can hold the frames, they used them.
Remember, bees will use anything that has a void in it, and down here they even make open air hives. Bees will use old fuel tanks, inside of old engines, I removed one old very large hive that had seven dust in the bottom of a truck tool box. I had to throw away a lot of honey because I was afraid it could bee contaminated with the poison.
Jim

[sc-bee]

Ben,
I have seen commercial hives that looked like they were ready for the scrap heap. As long as it can hold the frames, they used them.
Remember, bees will use anything that has a void in it,

And mine 

[Barhopper]

They work a lot better in heavy SHB country. Less area to hide.

[sc-bee]

They work a lot better in heavy SHB country. Less area to hide.

Never considered that... makes sense...

[Ben Framed]

"I removed one old very large hive that had seven dust in the bottom of a truck tool box. I had to throw away a lot of honey because I was afraid it could bee contaminated with the poison. Jim"

Yes, they will set up housekeeping wherever they see fit. I watched a video a while back that had a deceased squirrel inside of a cut out. I don't think the fellow was interested in the extra honey that time. 🍯

[BeeMaster2]

Ben,
I received a call to remove a swarm from a squirrel box. The owners watched the swarm move into this box with a family of squirrels in the box. Luckily the baby squirrels were old enough to bee able to scramble out of the hive when this happened. If those babies were a little younger, they would have been killed and would have been propalized into a mummy.
Jim