A few topbars 45 with drawn brood comb may be kept for spring hiving if they are carefully stored. After years in testing and refinement, tj carr and john bradford have finally released their plans for a standardized top bar hive tbh. The design of topbar hives has its origins in the work done in 1965 by tredwell. How to build your own diy top bar beehive if you are looking to become self sufficient, a good place to start is to have a beehive in your backyard. Contrary to popular belief, top bar beekeeping is not a new idea. These include the free top bar hive plans from philip chandler, author of the barefoot beekeeper and several top bar hive management books. Top bar beehives may be one of the oldest forms of domestic beekeeping. We emphasise that you keep exactly the same measurements as described here if they are to fit well together. And heres what ive come to realize about the benefits and drawbacks of top bar and langstroth bee hives. Download standard top bar hive plans albuquerque beekeepers.
It is a horizontal hive, enabling beekeepers to inspect the entirety of. The kenyan was designed to be low tech, low cost and simple to build using available materials. The essential document is bait hives for honey bees pdf by thomas seeley. The top bar hive is designed with the beekeeper in mind, both in terms of the construction effort and the management of the hive once installed. If you have multiple hives you want to elevate, you may want to consider a hive stand. Conventional methods of keeping bees are effective, but top bar beekeeping is simpler, less expensive, gives bees a greater degree of freedom, and still leaves you with honey and pollinated crops. We recognize the langstroth hive as an optimized design for largescale. In emergency situations, give them what they need usually food or brood, sun or ventilation orientation of the hive.
A topbar hive is a singlestory frameless beehive in which the comb hangs from removable. As the colony grows, slide the divider board, like a moving wall, down the hive cavity and add empty bars. The tanzania top bar hive differentiates itself from the other common design of top bar hive, the kenya top bar hive, because it has nonslanted sides non sloped side. Today, we have two main styles of horizontal top bar hives. The hive comprises a box roughly 85cm long, roughly 30cm deep,and. The interior width the distance between the side walls inside the hive should be exactly 46. This 5mm gap will act as a beespace between the follower board and the comb on the outer most edge. Tanzanian top bar hives have vertical sides, which is a bit easier to build, but. Design elements of a topbar hive topbar hives are easier to construct using available material than the conventional langstroth hives.
We first learned about top bar bee hives tbh from erick mcwayne at soos creek farm. But i cant seem to find it, or just a straight forward plans to making. Paul magnuson, pretoria, south africa provided these plans. The first inspection seven day after we installed the 3 lb package of bees and queen. A topbar hive comprises a hive body, topbars and roof. This style is called a tanzanian top bar hive, btw. Standardized design drawings for top bar hives pdf notes and details to accompany the tbh design pdf ventilation detail. Tbh and bee box is a type of beehive that you can build out of. My original plan was to do chickens under that garage awning, but i changed my.
You could easily fit four production colonies on just one hive stand, and if youre using only nucs, you could put even more. Traditional and modern beehives and beekeeping equipment thanks to your help, we are able to donate hives like this one to several locations all over the country in beekind beecause alo. The quilt is filled with a suitable insulating material of plant origin such as chopped straw, wood shavings, dried leaves etc. The kenyan top bar hive is a troughshaped hive that originated in kenya under the direction of canadian bee researcher dr. We propose there are good reasons to keep bees in top bar hives and for top bar beekeepers to use top bars of standard design and dimensions. Another farmer friend, dana ecelberger, swears by the top bar. As discussed in the wikipedia article referenced above, top bar hives with vertical side walls are often referred to as tanzanian, and top bar hives with sloped side walls are referred to as kenyan. Smith, sponsored by the canadian international development agency under an initial four year project begun in 1971. Plans and a parts list for a simple kenya top bar hive.
When the top or roof of the hive is added to the bottom, the hive is a perfect hexagon. The bees build their comb down from these bars naturally, without the use of a 4 sided frame or. Building a kenyan top bar hive tbh natural beekeeping. In a horizontal top bar hive, the bees will expand from the side out rather than vertically into stacking boxes. The kenyan tbh is differentiated from the other common design, the tanzania top bar hive, by having sloped. The top bar hive has been doubled, as the shape of the bottom is relatively the same but the bars and roof do not lie flat on top. First inspection of our new topbar bee hive youtube. Beekeepers would place strips of wood over empty cavities and allow the bees to draw comb from underneath.
Complete plans, cut lists and materials can be found on my website so you can build along with me. Free diagram and plans for a top bar hive mistress beek. Pictures and descriptions of a tanzanian top bar hive that doubles as a long langstroth hive. Detractors say that the bees make more attachment comb.
For this topbar hive, i made 24 bars at 1 14 wide for brood and 10 bars at 8 wide for honey. Rip a small channel down the centre of the remaining 29 top bars, about 5mm. To make your own top bar hive, follow the plans and dimensions in this manual. T h e b e e k e e p i n g n a t u r a l l y k e n y a. Pdf comparative study of the influence of hive types on. There is no direct passage of air from the top box to the vents under the roof. Beekeepingkenya top bar hives wikibooks, open books for. T2 with one entrance each at the right and left edge of the hive floor. Top bar hives essential management strategies also available at bees general attitude. Tanzanian top bar hive archive beesource beekeeping forums. I also check the 2 quart feeders to see how they are doing. Honey is sold as comb or chopped, drained then bottled.
Top bar hives are low tech, old style configurations of hives. Attach each follower board to a top bar, 5mm from one edge of the top bar. Try a top bar hive and help another good cause hi here we have nice picture about top bar bee hive plans. Top bar hives top bar hives are long boxes carrying a number of slats on top top bars. But i cant seem to find it, or just a straight forward plans to making one. At a high level, it is effectively a box on legs, with a cover. Distinct in shape and size, the top bar beehive commonly features a single, rectangular or tubshaped hive body with parallel bars. As well as a topbar cover cloth there is a cloth fixed to the bottom of the quilt to retain its contents. An introduction to the top bar hive top bar hive vs. The hive entrances of top bar hives were modified and assigned t1 with one flight entrance on the hive floor. Design intent the top bar hive is designed with the beekeeper in mind, both in terms of the construction effort and the management of the hive once installed. Although the two most wellknown styles of long topbar hives are named kenyan and tanzanian, the kenyan hive was actually developed in. Top bar hive plans archive beesource beekeeping forums. Can i simply make the sides of the hive out of standard boards and just adjust the other dimensions so all fits together.
The kenyan top bar hive has a box with sloped sides, whereas the tanzanian top bar hive has a rectangular box. Some beekeepers who use top bar hives, claim they see no real difference in the functionality of the. Learn how to build the hive stand in this great video tutorial below. Traditional and modern beehives and beekeeping equipment thanks to your help, we are. I have looked through the topics and still have not found a straight forward plan layout. It is often recommended that the hive body has sloping sides, reflecting the shape of naturally made comb so that the bees are less likely to attach comb to the sides of the hive. You can also print the complete design plans, and parts list which is posted below to build your own hive. Top bar is better for this than langstroth, because the bars themselves form the roof of the hive, and you only open it one bar at a time, instead of opening the lid and exposing cracks between all the frames at once. The top bar hive is the oldest and most commonly used hive style in the world. The sides and floor of the box are made from planks of inexpensive timber or similar. Hello, does anyone know of any good websites with top bar hive plans. Widespread experience indicates that bees have fewer tendencies to attach comb to the sloped side walls of the kenyan top bar hive.
In tanzania frame hives are believed to have been first infioduced by the. Heres a how to video on building a new top bar beehive using thermally treated poplar. Best top bar hive plans for happy and productive bees. Chandlers plans is that the download provides a printable shopping list for the supplies needed that you can take along to your home improvement or hardware store. With this design the sides that the bees are less likely to attach the comb. The design of all modern beehives is based on the discovery, by the father of modern. The interior width the distance between the side walls inside the.
Chandlers plans is that the download provides a printable. It features individual bars laid across the top of the hive cavity. I came across three plans, but most use non standard board widths which will require gluing of boards. I seem to think at one time there was pdf file in the plans section to make a tanzanian top bar hive. However, there are goodintentioned rebellious beekeepers among us, including the authors of this article, who choose to keep bees in top bar hives. The bees are expected to build one comb down from each top bar. Advantages and disadvantages of frame and topbar hives. As well as htbh such as the kenyan and tanzanian there are also vtbh vertical such as the warre.
Langstroth, l l 1s53 langstroth on the hive and the honeybee, a bee keeper,s manual, root co. In tanzania, the hive is split into halves, which the beekeeper attaches together before. Beekeepingtanzania top bar hives wikibooks, open books. Bee space is important traditional hive parts are made from wood. For example, the hive is easier to build, and it can be made to accommodate frames from langs. Download the pdf version with more notes characteristic top bar hive langstroth notes easy on your back a tbh is a dream for anyone with back problems. The example pictured above the one i built was a luxury version with all new pine. You will get enough top bars for one hive from one 6metre length. Made from different materials that are often repurposed or recycled, top bar hives can be observed. Made from different materials that are often repurposed or recycled, top bar hives can be observed around the world. Tanzania top bar hives are a style of top bar hive, which design is likely to have originated from tanzania. How to build a top bar beehive, free plans on website. The hive comprises a box roughly 85cm long, roughly 30cm deep,and 50. Top bar beehive for sale, top bar beehive inspection.
I am guessing this is ok, but this might also cause problems. Position one of the side panels against the follower boards, resting on the top bars. The follower boards represent the inside and now you are about to add the outer skin. Langstroth comparisons top bar hives allow you to give the bees the ability to free form their honey combs rather than having it prestarted.