Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time  (Read 10662 times)

Offline TenshiB

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 86
  • Gender: Male
  • Your happiness is up to you.
Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« on: September 05, 2013, 02:06:38 am »
I have not owned any top bar hives during the winter time and wonder if there are any big do's and don'ts for carrying a colony in a TBH through the winter. I'm in Thomson, GA (30 minutes west of Augusta). The winters here are usually mild but some years we'll get snow..

I'm sure that this Q has already been posed, so if any of y'all remember the threads, just point me in that direction.

-John B
The bees that do no work do not survive long. The people that do no work get rewarded.

Offline Michael Bush

  • Universal Bee
  • *******
  • Posts: 19832
  • Gender: Male
    • bushfarms.com
Re: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2013, 09:53:10 am »
In my location the only issues different than Langstroth are getting them to one end coming into winter so they don't eat their way to one end and starve with honey at the other end.  I'm guessing in GA that won't be an issue.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm#winter
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline Joe D

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2246
  • Gender: Male
Re: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2013, 12:53:11 am »
I'm about half way between Jackson and Biloxi MS.  I have the entrance in one end, the bees start brood on the first frame, after some frames of brood they have just honey.  So far I haven't had any trouble wintering them.  If I need to feed them, I put an entrance feeder on the SBB inside the hive, do have to take out a few frames.  Good luck to you and your bees.




Joe

Offline chux

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 432
  • Gender: Male
Re: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2013, 09:08:39 am »
Over in Eastern NC, I'd imagine our winter will be just a tad bit colder than Thomson, GA. Probably similar. I'm also wondering about the setup for winter. I've got 6 brood comb sandwiched in between honey comb now. My entrance is on one end of the box. The bees filled 3 bars with honey comb, followed by 6 bars of brood, and then 5(and counting) bars of honey comb. I suppose they want that insulation on both ends of the brood, come winter.

Should I shuffle all the honey to one end for winter? My instincts are telling me to leave it alone and let bees be bees. I assume they will winter in the back where the larger amount of honey is located. Should I leave those 3 bars of insulation honey where they are, and trust the bees to have enough for the winter in the back? I haven't taken any honey from these girls because it is their first year, and they started as a smaller swarm. I plan to harvest some honey next spring when the flow starts.

Offline charlie b

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 51
  • Gender: Male
    • You Tube
Re: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2013, 08:48:54 pm »
Chux. Here is a good place to answer most of your questions. This is besides here....... http://www.backyardhive.com/magazine/ There's a search button that will lead you anywhere you want to go.,,,,,, Hoping the best for you.

Offline TenshiB

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 86
  • Gender: Male
  • Your happiness is up to you.
Re: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2013, 10:55:16 am »
Chux, your situation sounds excellent.. I would hope that the bees would know to gravitate towards the larger honey supply during the winter time since A:  it is larger and B: it sounds like it is away from the entrance (toward the back) of the hive.. Maybe for peace of mind add one of those bars of honey to the collection of honey towards the supply at the front of the hive? That would make it:  Back 4|6|4 Front  BUT this may allure them towards the entrance/colder end of the hive if they consume in that direction..  I'd say just let them sort it out and check in on them when the days are warm enough. [=
The bees that do no work do not survive long. The people that do no work get rewarded.

Offline chux

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 432
  • Gender: Male
Re: Top Bar Hive(s) in the winter time
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2013, 10:38:50 am »
Thanks for the encouragement, folks. I'll let them do their thing. Looking forward to harvesting this spring. I think I will reverse the order of the honey comb, putting the outside honey (made from goldenrod in fall) closer to cluster to be eaten first. This would put the better honey from cotton and wild flowers, on the outside. If the bees don't get that far, I'll harvest this honey comb in the spring. Does this sound workable?

 

anything