brood bars and other questions

[hivebuilder]

having recently completed? my top bar hive I realized from other posts that the brood bars were too wide . sooo cut 10 of them to 1 5/16 in. if I can attract a swarm will this be enough? the space I created was enough for one 1 1/2 in bar + a small filler strip. wide enough for bees to get to super if I need to feed for winter or other time.
     another question will the bees use bees wax either flaked or solid when they first need to build comb?  and is there any help to them to use a flat sheet of wax as a starter strip or full comb shape or none at all.

[Steel Tiger]

 The bees produce their own wax when building. You can put a starter strip on the bars as a guide. I used popsicle sticks in my foundationless frames. On top bars, you can either do the same or cut strips of foundation or run a bead of wax in the center of the bar. One you have bees in the hive, check often to make sure they're drawing comb along the bar and not across several bars.

[Bush_84]

When I ran top bar hives I had 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 brood and 1 1/2 honey. 

[Joe D]

Mine are extra wide, I just cut 2x4's into at an angle to get the point in the middle, and left them the width they were.  Cut a flat notch for them to set on the sides of the hive.  They don't mind them being to wide.  Good luck to you and your bees





Joe