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Author Topic: Why is it?  (Read 2248 times)

Offline David McLeod

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Why is it?
« on: August 03, 2012, 04:41:09 pm »
Ever see so much crap that you slow down ask yourself why is it? Do you find the answer so impolite that you just shrug your shoulders and move on? Well I'm in a particularly foul mood this PM so I'll loose my impolite tongue or fingers as the case may be.

Why is it so many new beeks are saddled or saddle themselves with a top bar hive? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
Now before this goes off on a top bar bash tangent let me say that a well built and managed top bar hive is IMO either an excellent project for the skilled beek of all levels or probably the very best for the small hobbiest on a budget and without the wherewithal to sink time money and equipment into the hobby, provided that said hobbiest has the prerequisite knowledge.
Now here's the why? Why would you saddle yourself with a management program that almost implicitly requires one to understand intimately how a colony of honeybees constructs and uses a set of combs.
Now just how is one to possess that knowledge without first observed first hand in the controlled setting of either a langstroth or better yet the natural cavity.

The very same to a lesser degree can be said of foundationless frames.
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Offline AllenF

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2012, 06:03:29 pm »
I find that the top bar is sold as a more eco or natural hive by some.  Or it is sold as a cheaper to build, less money hive to run.   

Offline iddee

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2012, 07:03:38 pm »
Sorry, David, but Beemaster would ban me if I told you how much I agree with you, and why. Add that to destroying queen cells and I could really go off on a tangent.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline FRAMEshift

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2012, 07:53:24 pm »
Yes, I agree with you.  People often confuse our long hives with top bar hives.  So I just say, Yes it has top bars.  It also has a bottom bar and sides.   It's called a frame and it's the greatest invention in the history of beekeeping.  Why would you not want to use it.
"You never can tell with bees."  --  Winnie-the-Pooh

Offline VolunteerK9

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2012, 10:47:20 pm »
I guess to each their own, but I would have to agree with you. Maybe after runnning Langs for a while and a person wanted one to see how it goes-but I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner. Warres' fall into the same category.

Offline blanc

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2012, 11:46:39 pm »
Hey David,
Being a first year beek I researched and got started with a TBH that I built myself and quickly built some langstroth hives beings I think they are better manageable. I do have to say tho that my TBH is my strongest hive which I started with a small swarm and they built up like mad. I plan on using it for nuc splits providing they survive the winter. It is a 4 ft long box and it is 80 percent chock full of those girls! The only thing I have done with them is add in an empty bar here and there to keep them from swarming.
Psalm 19:9-10
The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea ,than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Offline rbinhood

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2012, 11:08:11 pm »
Sorry, David, but Beemaster would ban me if I told you how much I agree with you, and why. Add that to destroying queen cells and I could really go off on a tangent.

Dido......you add all of the extra time involved manageing one tbh, the same amount of time could be used to manage 4 or 5 Lang's.
Only God can make these two things.....Blood and Honey!

Offline Joe D

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2012, 01:31:52 am »
Well I guess I would agree also.  But I had been on SS for 10 yrs when I decided to try to become a beek.  In checking things out it looked like TBH were cheaper by a good bit,so I built 1.  Then a cousin gave me 2 deep boxes, I built 2 med supers for them.  Another guy from the bee club that I had joined before I built the TBH gave me some used frames.  Not wanting to catch anything that his bees might have, I cleaned these frames to bare frames.  Now on rethinking that I should have used them with the comb, would be lots ahead.  If you don't know all this when you start then may mess up.   You could say I am just a glutton for punishment.  I now have 1 TBH and 5 langs(with a good many foundationless frames) brood and supers.  You can learn from it and this and other web sites and hope not make too many mistakes.  I bought 3 established hives from an estate, the boxes were in bad shape, there were SHBs, and I couldn't get them until the middle of Dec because the place was in probate.  Didn't tell me that when they sold them, but when I went to pick them up.  Got them and in the spring they swarmed, now I have the 6 hives.
But with all this rebuilding etc. we are doing pretty good now and I have collected appr. 17 gals of honey this spring and summer.  Oh replaced all the brood boxes and went from 1 deep when bought to 2 deep now.  Besides learning beeking you also learn wood working.  It's an adventure.  I bought a used extractor  for next year.  So for except for my time, I only have appr. $1200 invested including extractor.



Joe

Offline BlueBee

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Re: Why is it?
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2012, 04:20:02 am »
+1 for holding off on a top bar until you get some experience under your belt with a lang (or long hive like Frameshift).  Why make life any more complicated than necessary.  

Wow!  We have a lot of beeks in agreement for a change!  This is a good sign :)