Top Bar Hive Construction

So I am finally getting around to building my beehive.

It's a bit.....tall. lol

We are almost done. I have the bars cut and I put beeswax in a line down the middle of each one last night. So tonight we will move the hives into their final resting places, coat it with lemongrass oil and beeswax, put the bars and roof on and call it good.

Hives are pretty much done. Just have to move into permanent locations. We can't keep the roofs on in this wind so they are topless right now with the bars removed. Going to build a lean-to for them.

Why do you have such a large overhang on the roof. A couple of inches all round is probably enough and would not catch the wind.

As these hives are short you will have to keep a close eye on them or they will quickly become crowded and swarm constantly.

Rob Browne wrote:Why do you have such a large overhang on the roof. A couple of inches all round is probably enough and would not catch the wind.

As these hives are short you will have to keep a close eye on them or they will quickly become crowded and swarm constantly.

Because that's how big the piece of metal was. I just cut it in half to make 2 roofs. If I needed 1 roof you'd see me trying to stick a whole sheet on there........ That's the kind of awesome I am.

They're cheap to make. If I manage to attract bees into one of the hives I'll just keep building more.

i would suggest some straw bales around them to keep them warm in the winter

beware of cross combing in a top bar. no fun to fix (ask me how i know)

Kelly Smith wrote:i would suggest some straw bales around them to keep them warm in the winter

beware of cross combing in a top bar. no fun to fix (ask me how i know)

They're going to be in a shelter but I will make sure it's insulated!