CORNISH TOP BAR HIVE ©
CORNISH TOP BAR HIVES FOR SALE Cornish Top Bar Hive without legs and window Cornish Top Bar Hive with legs Cornish Top Bar Hive with legs and observation window and panel Go to Online Shop	As standard, every hive is 39" long, 17" wide, 12" deep. They are supplied preassembled and complete. They are made from untreated (there are many different suitable wood treatments generally available), 3/4 inch sustainable pine. All hives include the following: varroa mesh floor screen insulated, light weight, gabled roof an adjustable, removable solid floor moveable division/dummy board complete with especially designed top bars dipped with our beeswax to encourage straight comb building my illustrated Beekeeping Theory course and guide. I am a professional bee farmer and bee breeder so you can also be assured of qualified advice and 'after sales technical support'. Optional extras are: bolt on legs (including bolts, washers and nuts) observation window with removeable panel This horizontal top bar hive is my own design, a result of experimentation and experience. With current beekeeping practices and the beginner in mind as well as the bees, it has many unique features not found in generic bee hives. This is the ideal hive for back garden and urban bee keeping, perfect for the hobby and beginner beekeeper and is adapted for keeping bees at European latitudes unlike other common Kenyan, Tanzanian, African and Caribbean designs. Top Bar Hive Answers Design advantages compared to a 'normal beehive' designed to make light work of beekeeping convenient working height with no heavy lifting bees build their own natural nest and honeycomb 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 extra equipment needed 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 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. Some would consider this to be a minimal requirement when keeping any creature.
This webpage was last updated 1 February 2012 and it took ages!

 

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