Comments on: How to Make a Home Made Bee Hive

By: james johnson

james johnson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:04:21 +0000

Iam an beginning beekeeper,getting my first hive. Thanks for the
help,need all the help I can get.I don’t have an web address at this
time.Thanks
From James

By: lenny

lenny — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:42:44 +0000

I am truly pleased with the information I have read especially the hive making plan. Your design is so simple and yet very practical and effective, I have decided to build my first of many.

Can you please explain how I can attract bees to the hive, is there a food or should I have to buy them? How do I look after them, should I feed them regularly and is there any info on care ets?
Lenny

By: Georgina

Georgina — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 02:50:29 +0000

Peter Hi,
Thank you very much for your reply.
I think after a failed idea to build a hive out of a recycled door believed to be oregon once the painted veneer cleaned off (but lo, turned out disappointingly extremely heavy particle board inside a wooden frame) – that I
remember glimpsing on your page external ply on the video ‘Before transferring bees to the large Kenyan Top Bar Hive’
Yes then thought through a glueing process idea along the lines you were discussing,
Now definitely not keen and so persevere with finding natural wood.
I think the topbar idea is wonderful allowing the upholding and protection of nature’s way.I am no more enlightened re the TopBar design’s exclusion and so ahead re registration, checking on this not being the case in NSW.
Thank you again. I
appreciate your comments very much.
Georgina PS I would be very glad to stay connected with people using Topbars and I can be contacted by email: georginavn@gmail.com Many Thanks.

By: Peter Willis

Peter Willis — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 08:02:27 +0000

Hi Georgina, I myself would be reluctant to use treated plywood for the internals of my TB hive however it would be quite feasible to use untreated wood if you have a very good water proof roof for the hive so that the timber does not get wet for any length of time. Alternatively you might use treated timber and overlay this with some 4mm untreated timber. A sandwich if you like of perhaps 12mm H3 ply with the 4mm glued to this and have the untreated on the inside. A bit of a pain but one way around it. That said, supposedly the wood treatments these days are less toxic than they were but less toxic to whom? Us?, bees? Probably best for you to decide how it sits with your outlook on the world. If you want to find other TB people I would suggest you enquire with your local beekeeping group, our one has been a conduit for putting TB people together even if they think its a hippy concept. Humans really cling to the idea that they have to be in control of as much of nature as possible and TB hives are a step away from that.

A response also to Lyle above, you can certainly check the condition of the comb in a TB hive when you wish to check for disease, open the top (external roof) and lift out any one bar you want to look at. This is one of the advantages of a TB in that it does not disturb the entire hive as you are leaving most of the hive “roof” (the bars) in place, the bees remain much calmer. Yes, completely true that when you harvest honey you destroy the comb to retrieve the honey but the bees build anew and they build fresh virgin comb (no residues from the old comb) so the amount of honey the hive produces will be less than a langstroth. The point of a TB hive is to allow the bees to be bees, trying to more emulate natural behaviour as they would show if they made their nest in a hollow log or wherever. Though, GOSH! it would be an unregistered log hive then wouldn’t it, naughty bees, no respect for authority.

cheers

By: Georgina

Georgina — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:20:23 +0000

Peter hello. First, thank you for having this info online, fantastic. Because I got interested in the Topbar idea for a beehive initially from your site I’m ready with the plans to build a Topbar (thanks to ‘The barefoot Beekeeper”). My question today is about exterior ply: did you find you could build from // your bees are OK in/ exterior ply?
I’m south of Sydney. It’s a longshot but a second enquiry: would you or anyone passing happen to know of any other topbar fans in NSW? Many Thanks ! Georgina

By: Stan

Stan — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 10:48:07 +0000

I have seen top bar hives with frames added to the bar to suit the profile of the box, at the time I thought that this was just a waste of time but it would be a way to get around these archaic laws, it would work got warre hives as well I guess. p.s. I have had my top bar hive for some time with an entry slot in the end about 150 mm long and about 6 mm high, I adjusted the height of the slot so that the bee has to rub the entrance on the way through, a crude attempt at dislodging the varoa should they make it to my area. no signs of beetle yet although I keep a few traps under some corrugated plastic on top of the hive. the top bar or warre is the only way to fly if you wanna be a back yarder.

By: lyle clinton

lyle clinton — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:38:38 +0000

tim the reason beekeepers use frames is so that we can remove them from the hive without damaging the comb it makes extracting less messy and you can check for bee diseases by close examination of the frame.
with top bar hives you cannot do this
evertime you harvest the comb for honey it cannot be used again with a managed hive system the frames and the wax on them is placed back into the hive to be cleaned up by the bees and refilled if you ring DPI QLD they will tell you the same thing and yes it against their regulations to keep bees in anything other than a framed hive system and you must also be registered
it is illegal to keep bees without registration no matter how many hives you have

By: pj

pj — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:12:57 +0000

An interesting site for top bar hives and beekeeping naturally is http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

By: Tim Auld

Tim Auld — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 08:11:09 +0000

Can anyone comment on the legality of top bar hives in Australia (Qld in particular). I was informed by a friend that they are illegal but the information on the Code of Practice for urban beekeeping in Queensland and Guidelines for rural beekeeping in Queensland
don’t mention it.

By: Tewiq

Tewiq — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:49:35 +0000

This is excellent information, thankyou very much!