Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => NATURAL & ORGANIC BEEKEEPING METHODS => Topic started by: Carriage House Farm on November 21, 2007, 09:10:17 pm
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Ok, so I've been thinking...and I am posting this in organic since I am letting the bees do their own thing
Sort of taking the " equipment" to the extreme.
Anybody ever build a TBH that uses medium frames? I have a couple ideas in mind including a way to work in existing top feeder boxes and bottom screens.
I haven't had time to build anything from scratch yet since I have been making Christmas lawn ornaments for the holidays. Once I get those out of the way and build my next hive I start working on it.
My idea is to simply make a "longer" TBH to accommodate the loss in vertical height. I understand that there might be issues with stores being spread further out but I figure if you manage it correctly this might not be a problem.
This way, I can swap out frames from my mediums into the TBHs.
Thoughts?
What about a swarm catch style box but with frames with starter strips in 'em?
Or do you simply want a "box"?
I've already ordered 2 medium nuc boxes from Brushy to use on my own or to give to a local to buy back at a later point.
Just tossing out ideas while I have nothing to do...or the time to do it... :-D
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:?
Are you talking TBH or long hive? TBHs have no frames. If you truly mean TBHs then I would venture a guess that you are much more likely to get comb built to the walls because you are limiting the vertical area and you are providing straight sides. I would also venture a guess that it will lead to a real mess if you put these top bars into a Langstroth.
Just my 2 cents.....
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I suppose I am talking about a long hive then.
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Here is a link to Michael Bushes setup.
http://bushfarms.com/beeshorizontalhives.htm
Pretty neat,May try it myself.
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>Anybody ever build a TBH that uses medium frames?
I've used foundationless medium frames in a long hive. As posted above.
> I have a couple ideas in mind including a way to work in existing top feeder boxes and bottom screens.
Exactly.
>My idea is to simply make a "longer" TBH to accommodate the loss in vertical height. I understand that there might be issues with stores being spread further out but I figure if you manage it correctly this might not be a problem.
Exactly.
>This way, I can swap out frames from my mediums into the TBHs.
Exacatly.
>What about a swarm catch style box but with frames with starter strips in 'em?
Swarm catch?
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Yeah, you know, something catch swarms in.
Or am I losing it? :)
I've seen talks of lemon grass oil as lures and what not and I've seen all sorts of different style stuff from nucs to stuff that look likes like a cut out from a log to simple boxes.
Do you put frames in 'em or simply put out a box and hope a swarm takes to it like a cavity in a tree?
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>I've seen talks of lemon grass oil as lures and what not and I've seen all sorts of different style stuff from nucs to stuff that look likes like a cut out from a log to simple boxes.
I just don't get the connection to a horizontal hive.
>Do you put frames in 'em or simply put out a box and hope a swarm takes to it like a cavity in a tree?
Both work fine. The bees don't care about the frames. But the frames are handy when you want to put them in a hive. :) You can do a cutout if you don't have frames.
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>I've seen talks of lemon grass oil as lures and what not and I've seen all sorts of different style stuff from nucs to stuff that look likes like a cut out from a log to simple boxes.
I just don't get the connection to a horizontal hive.
>Do you put frames in 'em or simply put out a box and hope a swarm takes to it like a cavity in a tree?
Both work fine. The bees don't care about the frames. But the frames are handy when you want to put them in a hive. :) You can do a cutout if you don't have frames.
No connection really unless they (Langs, long hives, swarm catch) are all using the same frame size.
The idea was to take your support for swappable equipment to the extreme.
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I have been doing a lot of reading on §¤«£¿æ.com.
It is a site for TBH (Top Bar Hives).
From there I have read up on the ware(SP) hive, a vertical TBH.
This is a hands off hive.
You only go into it once per year.
TBH's have slanted sides.
The angle I have seen is 103*.
The bees are not inclined to attach comb to the sides although the sometimes do.
The comb is sacrificed during extraction
These hives do not favor our interests, but those of the bees.
The bees will also gravitate to a naturally smaller cell size and they are left to make the drone/worker ratio as they see fit.
Swarming and disease is supposed to be kept to a minimum mostly due to the lack of stress.