Hey, I know that in box hives, the queen is kept out of the super by exclusion plates. How do you keep the queen from laying her eggs all over? Do bees naturally separate honey comb from brood combs? Or are you separating grubs from honey at harvest? Or is this a non-harvest hive for population increase?
@IonOtter With this type of hive you can expand the brood chamber when needed. As long as the queen has plenty of room to lay eggs a couple of bars full of honey will keep her from laying in bars you are going to harvest.
Do you have a schematic of the Top Bar design.? How do you take the honey out? Doesn't this kill the brood as well? Please explain or send me to a site that can. Tks a lot!
@fishingthewatershed I'm doing much the same thing here in Australia. What was the state of the brood comb after 15 years. I wonder if the hive died out at some stage, the wax moth, ants & cockroaches cleaned it out & another swarm start from scratch again. This could happen over & over, in my opinion. I've been studying the bees from a natural point of view for a while now & it's amazing how so many pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit, 1 by 1.
@fishingthewatershed I'm using new world carnolean bees. I think they are a hybrid of a Russian strain. I have no experience with other bees so I could not tell you if they are more aggressive, but this hive was pretty "hot" last year. I think that may have been due to stress from over crowding.
should i put a divider in the tbh if the bees start building on the floor of tbh to prevent them from going further to the back. what is the best way to treat the hive for mites and other pest if the top fits snug over top bars.
are you supposed to take out the comb that falls off any bar. one fell off and they are now building on the bottom. its just in the front, so should i take it out with so mny bees on them. transfer the queen to empty tbh i have and let them start a new hive and clean the mess up to start again in the other. i feel im bothering them too much.
dragonhim - hey - great videos thanks for sharing - I'm installing my first bees in my TBH tomorrow - can't wait. What kind of bees do you have? They seem very gentle. I'm hoping to be able to install without too much protection like you did.
@mfalconful I cut a grove in each bar. When I started I wedged a piece of foundation in about 10 bars. Once they were drawn out I just put a blank bar in between and the bees know what to do.
@sigsauer12 Might be possible I haven't tried it. I just keep two bars of drawn out honey between the brood portion and the honey stores. The divider is just used to reduce the size of the hive box for winter.
@StriderGTS I installed a 3lb package of bees mid April. It took about 3 months to get here, and I had harvested a couple bars of honey that day too. You can see the missing spaces in the video.
Brilliant video! A mirror under the hive would make filming/inspection easier ; ) Ever thought of making a hive with perspex/plexiglass sides and gable ends as an observation/educational hive?
You have some great videos. We ordered bees yesterday for our topbars. Your lowtech style has removed a lot of fear from me. Ii hope we have your touch.
Great info. I had given up beekeeping ten years ago, but plan to start up again because the top bar hive doesn't need heavy lifting, and allows the bees to make their own cell size. Please tell me what type of bees are "resistant" as you said, and also where did you get your woodworking plans for building your hive? Thanks again for the inspiration!
Hi there. Nice job! I have some questions. How much honey do you think you can extract from a single bar on average? How much time does it take for the bees to complete a single bar so you can harvest it? And finally, are the bees always this organized, as in why do they build each comb on one bar as opposed to building them all over the place? Thanks
Great Vid. I dont keep bee's but plan to build a top bar this winter and order my first package by spring. I am learning all I can from people like you. Thanks a bunch
Thats great! Seems like they are doing extremely well. Are you going to harvest soon? I heard bees more likely to swarm when all the bars are full. So watchout. :)
I had harvested four bars one week before making this video. You can see the spaces between the comb where I put empty bars. I plan to split them soon. Thanks for the comment.
Hey, I know that in box hives, the queen is kept out of the super by exclusion plates. How do you keep the queen from laying her eggs all over? Do bees naturally separate honey comb from brood combs? Or are you separating grubs from honey at harvest? Or is this a non-harvest hive for population increase?
IonOtter 1 week ago
@IonOtter With this type of hive you can expand the brood chamber when needed. As long as the queen has plenty of room to lay eggs a couple of bars full of honey will keep her from laying in bars you are going to harvest.
dragonhlm 1 week ago
Your voice has such a calming effect on the bees... and me. You're a cool dude! Thanks.
kidgecartoon 1 month ago
One nitwit broke the sandcastle, always one dud bee in every hive!
kidgecartoon 1 month ago
HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THIS HIVE FOR I MEAN MASALLAH IT'S FULL
jannassary 2 months ago
Do you have a schematic of the Top Bar design.? How do you take the honey out? Doesn't this kill the brood as well? Please explain or send me to a site that can. Tks a lot!
fredgill2 5 months ago
where u buy the hive or what plans did you go from?
dharper1647 9 months ago
Very cool. I've never seen that type of hive. How do you get honey from it?
RratsArtStudio 11 months ago
@fishingthewatershed I'm doing much the same thing here in Australia. What was the state of the brood comb after 15 years. I wonder if the hive died out at some stage, the wax moth, ants & cockroaches cleaned it out & another swarm start from scratch again. This could happen over & over, in my opinion. I've been studying the bees from a natural point of view for a while now & it's amazing how so many pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit, 1 by 1.
mugsyjeff 1 year ago
@fishingthewatershed I'm using new world carnolean bees. I think they are a hybrid of a Russian strain. I have no experience with other bees so I could not tell you if they are more aggressive, but this hive was pretty "hot" last year. I think that may have been due to stress from over crowding.
dragonhlm 1 year ago
What did you do with all those bees? How do you manage it when it is full...How is this year?
topbarhivesinWA 1 year ago
@topbarhivesinWA When it is full SPLIT. This year is great i went from one hive last year to four this year.
dragonhlm 1 year ago
@topbarhivesinWA they are Italian bees.
MollieMcBullets 8 months ago
Loved the video! Awesome. Building my first TBH now. Thanks for sharing.
t1963007 1 year ago
should i put a divider in the tbh if the bees start building on the floor of tbh to prevent them from going further to the back. what is the best way to treat the hive for mites and other pest if the top fits snug over top bars.
sigsauer12 1 year ago
are you supposed to take out the comb that falls off any bar. one fell off and they are now building on the bottom. its just in the front, so should i take it out with so mny bees on them. transfer the queen to empty tbh i have and let them start a new hive and clean the mess up to start again in the other. i feel im bothering them too much.
sigsauer12 1 year ago
dragonhim - hey - great videos thanks for sharing - I'm installing my first bees in my TBH tomorrow - can't wait. What kind of bees do you have? They seem very gentle. I'm hoping to be able to install without too much protection like you did.
dphogan 1 year ago
How did you get the bees to attach the comb in the center of each top bar? There's no spacers between the bars, right?
mfalconful 1 year ago
@mfalconful I cut a grove in each bar. When I started I wedged a piece of foundation in about 10 bars. Once they were drawn out I just put a blank bar in between and the bees know what to do.
dragonhlm 1 year ago
@dragonhlm can you buy a queen excluder for langstroth hive and custom fit it to tbh? That way you would not need a divider.
sigsauer12 1 year ago
@sigsauer12 Might be possible I haven't tried it. I just keep two bars of drawn out honey between the brood portion and the honey stores. The divider is just used to reduce the size of the hive box for winter.
dragonhlm 1 year ago
Very nice video! I have been keeping bees in Langs and I am very interested in trying a TBH!
musketman2008 1 year ago
Wow that's incredible! How long had this hive been going before it looked that filled out with comb?
StriderGTS 1 year ago
@StriderGTS I installed a 3lb package of bees mid April. It took about 3 months to get here, and I had harvested a couple bars of honey that day too. You can see the missing spaces in the video.
dragonhlm 1 year ago
Brilliant video! A mirror under the hive would make filming/inspection easier ; ) Ever thought of making a hive with perspex/plexiglass sides and gable ends as an observation/educational hive?
Retrorocker54 2 years ago
@Retrorocker54 I would love to make an observation hive. This first one I decided to go GREEN, I made it from leftover material.
dragonhlm 1 year ago
That is a beautiful hive. I wish I had one of your queens.
magprob 2 years ago
veora mites?
scry42 2 years ago
You have some great videos. We ordered bees yesterday for our topbars. Your lowtech style has removed a lot of fear from me. Ii hope we have your touch.
agassizbeekeeper 2 years ago
wow that is really gorgeous - thank you for posting the videos, it gives me confidence with my own top bar hive to be started this spring!
heyclarisse 2 years ago
how much honey can you collect from this hive?
mreisma 2 years ago
I know that the stacking hives have a way to exclude the queen so that honey for harvesting doesn't get mixed up with the brood.
Do top bars have something similar?
dune181 2 years ago
Great info. I had given up beekeeping ten years ago, but plan to start up again because the top bar hive doesn't need heavy lifting, and allows the bees to make their own cell size. Please tell me what type of bees are "resistant" as you said, and also where did you get your woodworking plans for building your hive? Thanks again for the inspiration!
sbinnr 2 years ago
Hi there. Nice job! I have some questions. How much honey do you think you can extract from a single bar on average? How much time does it take for the bees to complete a single bar so you can harvest it? And finally, are the bees always this organized, as in why do they build each comb on one bar as opposed to building them all over the place? Thanks
gretarsjukro 2 years ago
I've got 3 top bar hives going with bees I've removed from the wild. thier doing quite well. just like yours.
gahoachma 2 years ago
Hello, how wide is yours bars?
paprna 2 years ago
Thanks for posting your work. I was scared to install bees, but you make it look easy.
Such cool videos. My kids were fascinated.
Did you make your own hive? Where did the brood combs end up?
I'm planning on building a top bar and getting bees this spring from Harvest Lane Honey in Grantsville.
cesariam 2 years ago
Mind if i ask where you ordered your bees?
aimeesaviary 2 years ago
I got them from a local beekeeper (Knight's family honey) they are in Utah so it may not help you much
dragonhlm 2 years ago
Great Vid. I dont keep bee's but plan to build a top bar this winter and order my first package by spring. I am learning all I can from people like you. Thanks a bunch
countrycruisers 2 years ago
Thats great! Seems like they are doing extremely well. Are you going to harvest soon? I heard bees more likely to swarm when all the bars are full. So watchout. :)
prometeusal 2 years ago
I had harvested four bars one week before making this video. You can see the spaces between the comb where I put empty bars. I plan to split them soon. Thanks for the comment.
dragonhlm 2 years ago