Backyard Apiary

I previously built a Kenyan Top Bar Hive (KTBH), but so far have had no luck with getting bees to move in to it.  I really want to experience managing bees in non standard hives and the prospect of not having to lift boxes during an inspection is very motivating.  The long hive I built is the equivalent to three 10-frame medium (6 5/8″) hives.  Instead of them being stacked vertically, all of the frames are next to each other in the single long box.  With normal langstroth hives, you control the size of the hive by adding or subtracting boxes and moving frames between them.  The size of the long hive is controlled by using a follower board; a frame that is solid with no space for bees to crawl past it.

With the exception of the KTBH, all of my hives use medium frames (6 5/8″). This consistent frame size will let me easily move bees in to the long hive, unlike my failed attempts with the KTBH. In a few days when the primer and caulking off gas a bit more, I will transfer the frames from the nuc on a top bar hive in to the long hive.  They never expanded in to the KTBH and I would be happier if the hive was more than ten frames going in to winter.

Screened Bottom

The size of the broodnest in a long hive will use as many frames as the queen will lay.  A screened bottom is good to have under the broodnest because any varroa mites that fall off will fall out of the hive.  Two trays allows me to adjust the ventilation without having a long board extending out from the back of the hive. One of the trays is the size of a 10-frame.  The trays rest on a pair of 3/4″ x 2.5″ wood rails with 3/4″ x 3/8″ rabbets.  The rails keep the the sides of the hive from warping, act as footings and provides an inside edge to attach the 8 mesh hardware cloth.

Inner Covers

An inner cover has many uses for a hive.  It provides a thermal break from the main part of the hive and allows moisture to escape the hive.  I didn’t want to use a single inner cover for the hive.  It would be a bit unwieldy and result in many crushed bees.  A single piece inner cover would also expose every frame and that could mean a lot of angry bees.  I chose to make two 10-frame inner covers and a third shorter odd sized one for the middle.  The only plywood I had laying around was 19/32″ sheathing.  These are very thick and noticeably heavier.  Inner covers are normally made from 1/4″ plywood.  The extra wood should provide more insulation for the hive.

Outer Cover

This is the first outer cover that I’ve made with a metal top.  I used a roll of 20″ wide flashing and cut three 26″ long pieces.  I have an old paper cutter, which works surprisingly well for cutting flashing; nice straight, clean cuts.  I used a quick square to align the center piece first and clamped it down on the corners.  I bent the edges with my hands first and then finished off with a hammer.  I attached it to the wood sides using 1/2″ staples.  The next two pieces of flashing overlapped the first piece by ~5″.  I used exterior caulking to keep any water from getting between the pieces of flashing.

I inspected the four main hives in the backyard apiary this morning. The split from Hegemone is replacing its queen. From the amount of capped drone cells, I’d say that the previous queen didn’t mate very well. There were a few capped and uncapped queen cells. They haven’t drawn out any more comb and their honey stores were looking a little empty. I removed two frames, one from each the top and bottom box and put the deep frame feeder. I ordered the wrong part from Brushy Moutain and ended up with a deep frame feeder instead of a medium. That should be enough food to keep them going and possibly encourage them to draw out a little bit more comb. I’m not sure if the hive will build up enough to survive a winter. I’m not sure if I’ll combine it with another hive or see if it can survive the winter.

Antheia is strong and doing well. The queen is laying in the bottom two boxes and the third box is mostly capped honey. As the strongest hive in the yard, I think that the hive has been getting most of the syrup from the communal feeding. Since all frames were fully drawn or mostly drawn, I gave the hive back it’s fourth box and pulled a frame of brood up from the second box. They already have plenty of stores for winter, so I’m hoping that they’ll draw more frames that can be given to other hives.

The split with the purchased queen is doing well. They still haven’t fully drawn the second box. I refilled the entrance feeder for the first time since the spring honey flow. The hive is strong enough that robbing shouldn’t be an issue.

Hegemone is doing well. I found some cocoons on the outside under the outer cover and on the bottom of the hive below the screened bottom. Could possibly be wax moth, but I’ll never know because I crushed them all. I saw a hornet snatch a bee off the top of the hive. My attempts to burn the hornet with the butane torch failed and it flew off.

I wanted to keep feeding the top bar hive without the flaws of using the screen. I bought a 2.75″ hole drill bit. This is the size needed for a regular mouth jar. It’s a very snug fit, so its best to either widen the hole with a file or use the drill to widen the hole a little bit.