Top Bar HivesBy Steve Buckner & Greg Tomerlin

A Walk & Roll Production

www.honey-sun.comWalnut Grove Road Greg TomerlinLebanon, TN Steve Buckner

There are several styles of TBHs

Honey Sun Top Bar Hives

Pros & Cons Pros• Less weight to lift• Natural cell size• Observation Window• Less exposure to bees• Top Bars easier to

make than frames• Less expensive to

build• No extra storage

required

Cons• More frequent

manipulation required• Combs are more

fragile• Have to start at one

end for inspection• Difficult to move once

established• Combs destroyed

during honey harvest

Hive Components

How to build a TBH• Free plans available on the internet

- biobees.com- bushfarms.com- learningbeekeeping.com

• Measure someone’s hive and copy it• Basic carpentry skills and tools. A

table saw is especially useful when making bars.

Tools of the Trade

• Smoker• Barbecue Tongs• Five in One Tool• Long Bread

Knife

What We Use

•42” long hive•17” top bars•1X and 2X lumber•2x4 pressure treated legs•Aluminum sheeting for roof

Entrance Location

There are several options for entrances: top, end and

side. While top and end entrances are functional, an entrance on the middle

of the side can lead to problems. Since the bees want to build the brood-

nest close to the entrance, they’ll build honey storage combs on each end in this

arrangement. This can lead to the cluster becoming trapped on one end and starving to death with

combs full of honey on the other. Use an end entrance.

Two Main Types of Top Bar Hives

TanzanianThe sides of this hive are

straight up and down.

KenyanThese sides are sloped.

Some people believe that the sloped sides keep the bees from

attaching the combs to the sides. We have not

found this to be the case.

Installing Bees Packages Swarms

Standardize Your Dimensions!

• If you plan on building more than one hive, make all of your hives the same dimensions, including your top bars. This way, you can swap combs from hive to hive.

This should include any TBH nucs you have, too.

Top Feeder

Custom-made feeder to hold three quart jars. There is a screen below each jar which allows the jars to be changed without releasing bees.

Boardman

FeederWe cut a slot in the end of the hive for a snug fit for a Boardman feeder base. Bees can’t get to the food from outside and it’s easy to know when you need to refill.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!

This is a joke, people.

Adding a super to a TBH

Hive Inspectio

nIt is critical to cut brace combs before lifting out a top bar. You may not realize you’ve damaged the comb until you open the hive for the next inspection.

Follower BoardThe follower board is used to restrict the size of the hive before it has built

up. It gives a sense of a smaller space to fill.

Straight Combs Lead to Straight Combs!!!!!!!

This is probably the most important lesson to learn in this type beekeeping. As in standard Lang hives, you need to

be able to inspect each individual comb. Without a frame, it is easier for the

bees to build combs from bar to bar. To prevent this, you MUST add empty bars

between drawn combs of brood. The bees are forced to build straight combs.

Screened Bottom Board

Some people like a screened bottom board in their hives. This serves the same purpose as a SBB in a Lang hive by giving you the opportunity to increase ventilation and get an idea of what’s happening inside the hive, including mite counts.

Top Bar CombsHandle With Care

Top Bar Width

The main thing to remember is bee space. While the best width for a

brood comb bar is 1 ¼ inches, a bar 1 ½ inches wide is best for honey combs. Some people

make all of their bars 1 3/8 inches and make

spacers to space them out for honey combs. Others

use a bar 1 3/8 inches wide for all of them.

We’ve tried both. While using all 1 3/8” bars is

easier, the narrower bars are more natural for the

brood nest.

Types of Comb Guides

Observation WindowsOne nice feature of top bar hives is

that you can easily add an observation window.

Suggested Reading

• Beesource.com has a Top Bar forum and is an excellent source for beekeepers in general.

• Bushfarms.com and The Practical Beekeeper• The Barefoot Beekeeper by Phil Chandler• Search for Sam Comfort or Les Crowder on the

internet.• A search on Google for TBH’s will turn up

loads of information.

Another Type of Top Bar Hive

The Warre Hive…

also known asThe People’s

Hive

The Warre Hive

The Warre Hive (also known as the People’s Hive) was developed by French beekeeper Emile Warré. He was born around 1876 and lived until 1951. Warre developed the People’s Hive after experimenting with over 350 hives of various designs and types. It was his goal to find a hive system that was simple, natural, economical, and bee-friendly. The final result was the People’s Hive, or Ruche Populaire in his native tongue. He outlined the construction and operation of the hive in his interesting book Beekeeping for All. The pdf is available on our site.

Warre Components

Crazy CombsThe Warre is left alone until time to harvest. You hope the bees will follow your comb guides on the top bars. When harvesting honey, all of the combs in a box are removed and crushed, so crooked, crazy combs are not as much of an issue.

Harvesting HoneyCrush and strain

Honey Sun Apiaries

Please visit our website atwww.honey-sun.com

to see this presentation in its entirety.