Top Bar Hive Answers
Design advantages compared to a 'normal beehive'
- less disturbance to the bees whilst inspecting means less stressed bees
- the whole colony is allowed to free range through the hive
- only 1 hive needed, even when 'splitting'
- no lifting of heavy boxes
- bees build their own natural comb
- no need to buy frames or wax foundation
- no extra hive equipment needed
- floor design enables easy Varroa monitoring
and ventilation adjustment
How does it work? The same principles of beekeeping apply to this as any other hive though there is less equipment needed because it is horizontal and it is therefore a simpler system. Colonies are inspected in the same way, assessing their needs for space and food, health and swarm checks.
No frames or foundation? The top bars have special wax covered comb guides that encourage the building of a straight comb. The combs can be removed and handled the same way as a frame.
No queen excluder? The capacity of this hive with 26 bars is about the same as 3 deep National boxes. The broodnest is established at the front and honey is stored at the back (just as it is in nature). Queens only lay in the broodnest, not randomly all over the place, so all the colony is allowed to be 'free range'. This allows the full spread of queen pheromones (including her footprint pheromone) throughout the hive, reducing swarm and supersedure impulse. It also means that adult drones do not clog the broodnest as they would in a National with a QX. This also reduces swarming. More important is that the bees are allowed to fully exhibit their natural behaviour without hindrance, a minimal requirement when keeping any creature.
How are bees put in? This hive can be populated with a natural swarm, artificial swarm, shook swarm or 'package' (that already has a viable queen) as these will naturally 'want' to make comb. Combs from National frames can also be transplanted onto bars by a 'cut and twine' method. Combs are cut from frames (use the dummy end board as a template) and laid next to a top bar. Twine, for example, is tied to the bar and wound and around the comb and tied again. The comb is only cradled by the twine but within days the bees will have attached the comb to the bar when the twine can be removed.
How to feed? The feeder can simply be an open top recycled food container. Use 'rafts' (e.g. straw or a bit of wood) or 'ladders' (e.g. chicken wire loosely crumpled to fill the container) to prevent the bees from drowning themselves.
How to harvest? Honeycombs are taken from the hive (and replaced with empty bars) throughout the year, if they are surplus to the needs of the colony. This allows the bees to always be able to make wax and build comb (they are also more likely to swarm when they can't). It also prevents accumulated 'nasties'. It is also easier and preferable to deal with smaller quantities of honey at a time. Honey is best eaten in the comb and best stored in the comb. Freeze any surplus. The only reason that I can imagine why anyone would want honey out of the comb is for putting in tea (the wax melts, sticks to the cup and is a pain to get off). Separating the honey and wax is simply done by mashing the comb and allowing it to drain through a coarse strainer overnight.
How to control swarming? The same standard artificial swarm techniques are used. Instead of using a second hive though, this hive simply uses the space at the back and the dummy end board to split the colony. Less kit, less hassle.
What are they? Top Bar hives are not a new idea, their use pre-dates 'frame' hives (like the National hive invented in the 19th and 20th centuries) by millennia. Bar hives in various forms are still used by many beekeepers around the world today.
'Frame' hives like the National and their frames and wax foundation are all 'Victorian' inventions solely based on maximising yields and the economics of large scale commercial production of honey (the same mentality results in battery chickens). The Top Bar hive is not.
Wax foundation (made with wax from who knows where) is embossed with a uniform cell size (some 'Victorian' thought that larger cell size means larger bees and larger honey yield, it is still made this way today). Both the cell size and the uniformity are different to what the bees do in nature. It is interesting that one method of bee communication is vibrating the cell rims of the comb like a guitar string. Wooden frames dampen and inhibit this natural communication. The Top Bar hive allows the bees to build their own comb to their own natural specifications.
Honey extractors (same 'Victorian' mentality), together with frames and foundation, allow the high speed mechanised extraction of honey. It also allows the comb to be reused by the colony (the advent of petroleum wax in 'Victorian' times meant beeswax was not wanted. Bees eat honey to make beeswax so the same 'Victorian' thought that if the bees don't have to make wax, yields will be maximised). Disease pathogens and environmental toxins (such as toxins used to treat Varroa and, more worryingly, those on the plants visited by bees) accumulate and build up in reused comb. It is the natural behaviour of bees to make wax, it should not be inhibited.
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