Urban beekeeping in New Mexico's largest city.
Hello All, On inspection of my only hive 2 weeks ago and again today my hive population seems smaller. There is a lot of honey production, and many vacated (dark cells). I did not find the queen or…Continue
Started by Jeannie Pace. Last reply by Jeannie Pace Jul 16, 2018.
Hello All, Finally living a dream by installing my first package of bees two weeks ago. I gave the gals 9 days to settle in before making an inspection. I limited the hive to 8 bars as a starter. I…Continue
Tags: inspections
Started by Jeannie Pace. Last reply by Elizabeth Lake Apr 13, 2018.
Hi friends,My most recent inspection of my backyard top bar hive revealed a couple of things that I'm wondering about. I attended the last mentoring session with Lulu and Mark and learned A LOT,…Continue
Started by Emily Hurd. Last reply by Elizabeth Lake Aug 18, 2017.
Hi All,Here is an awesome site which contains a wealth of information about bees. http://scientificbeekeeping.comContinue
Started by Ivy. Last reply by Rhett Renoud Apr 28, 2016.
Comment
Great link. Thanks for posting, Ivy.
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/7-health-benefits-bee-propolis
Here is a some wonderful information about propolis. Amazing stuff!
Michal
I'll be bringing pieces of comb that you can attach to empty bars, if they don't work I may be able to pull some full bars out this weekend.
Hi Carlos, that would be fantastic if you could.
Sorry, I made the mistake of replying the wrong way in my haste.
But I'll be there this eve. Wearing a black baseball cap for recognition.
I was going to get comb from some folks here but found I had one and another friend gave me one. I thought I was on the right track. It seems the girls rejected my comb though, taken it down, and have gone on their merry way building awry! It is totally gone!, both of them. Does anyone still have some comb, especially a larger piece, that I could buy off you?
We're going great guns but I have no hope of straightening out what they've done while I've been going nuts at work and been out of town unless I can get them to be happy with the addition.
Jefferson, I do not have a TBH hive. Everyone that I know who has Top Bar Hives seem to have a lower success rate in keeping bees, which is why I've steered away from them. I agree with Dorian, the build of the hive is probably critical. In my opinion, there is less room for error in a Langstroth or Warre, but this is based on what I have read and observed through the eyes of other beekeepers. I realize that Les Crowder uses TBH hives at a higher elevation, but I don't know what his overall success rate is. Bees are highly resilient and can survive in many living conditions. But surviving and thriving are very different.
I have seen top bar hives be VERY successful at high altitude and low temperatures. I have a friend up in Taos and Santa Fe who have several of them. It just depends on the build I think. I like the CJ top bar build. I would research possible bacteria infections or look for pests among the clusters of bees Pete. What happened to your bees is most likely not due to cold weather but some other event. They survived the coldest parts of the winter to be taken out by a March late freeze does not make sense. Next year though I will build a Langstroth hive and if I can convert it to a flow hive!
In my opinion, Top Bar Hives are not as successful in colder environments as vertical hives. Bees are vertical builders, and in a vertical hive (Langstroth or Warre), the bees start at the bottom and move upward through their winter stores. In a Top Bar Hive, the bees break cluster and become separated. Even in a 10 frame Langstroth, bees can become separated as they move to the outer frames for food. For this reason, many cold weather beekeepers prefer 8 frame Langstroth hives. At 7,100 feet, I'm in a much colder environment compared to those in the ABQ area. Even with a screened bottom board, my bees survive the winter with night temperatures dropping down to -15*F. It seems that many TBH users have a much lower success rate. Again, these are my opinions and should be taken as such. I'm simply questioning the success rate of TBH hives compared to those who are use vertical hives in colder climates.
© 2021 Created by Abq Beeks.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Topbar hive users. to add comments!