Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[gunfighters]

very nice phill
I have planing on building topbar nucs (diffrent X section) this winter and bumped in to this thread looking around to see what outhers have done

[Viggen]

Today I picked up the 1x12 boards to make a couple of TB Bait Hives. And some 1x6 for the bottom.
How long do they need to be to make the internal volume 36 Liters?

If this should actually work(anybody had success with these mini's?) I figure I can then make the ~ 36"-48" version with the screen bottom, and maybe a bottom board as well.
Because of the summer heat in the area there will be shade provided and at least the top will be white painted and possibly insulated as well. Does anyone in hot areas do anything for insulating the sides and top of a hive. Obviously it wouldn't be practical to provide an insulating R Factor with a lot of hives but with only a couple it shouldn't take too much effort.
And that "baby bar", great idea.
I didn't really understand the first picture with a super on the tbh. Is that something doable, or common? I have a minimal understanding of things.

Build bait hive
Trap swarm
Re-queen (because it's AB territory)
Build full size TBH
Transfer swarm to ful size TBH

Sounds simple.....LOL..... I hear the devil is in the details...

[ivashka]

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/ivashka19/view/125291/?page=0
http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/ivashka19/view/125294/?page=0
http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/ivashka19/view/125296/?page=0
Today pics

[Viggen]

Thank you ivashka.

I built the 48" version first, although no so pretty. Now we weld something for the hive to sit on - we have the steel so we weld.

[bigbearomaha]

just curious

how does this address the concern of soft wax attachment of new comb to top bars and the risk of comb collapse while transporting said 'pollination' tbh? older, more stable comb should be less of an issue, but as one of the 'advantages' of tbh is that the bees are building 'fresh' comb after crush and strain honey bar removals, etc...

the only thing I can think to address that issue would be to make custom tbh frames.

Big Bear

[AnthonyD]

Hope its ok to reply to this so long after the last post, but Id be very interested in learning whether or not you (biobee/phil) have employed this design as a bait hive and, if so, have you had any success with it?

[jaywoo]

[jaywoo]

If this calculator is right and my data entry is too... Then a 18" long version is 32 litres. A 26" long hive body is 46 litres. I'm thinking of going 26" (660mm) and adding one follower board to initially close it down to 40 litres. If the bees space their comb at 38mm, this will give them 17 bars... Sounds a lot for a nuc hive.

[madasafish]

I have three 20" versions.. - that's the internal width. 13 bars of 38mm width which is what I use. Works very well. I expect to take all three into winter basically full of bees and stores. The two I overwintered last year did well.

[biobee]

I use 9" boxes for nucs and 18" boxes for portable/bait hives. The latter are big enough to overwinter a colony and probably about right for 'conservation hives', although less easy to open and check due to restricted space.

The volume is height x length x average width, so for a 9" nuc it would be 11x9x10=990 cu in =16.2 liters and double that for the 18" version, so your calculator works!

[jaywoo]

I'm just back for the city with the wood for the making of a 26" (660mm) version. I'd better get cracking!

[BridgetB]

Hi Phil,
I have built a mini TBH similar to yours and used it to transport a swarm and as a bait hive (as yet unsuccessful) but I don't understand the role of the super. My mini hive has top bars so a super wouldn't work anyway?
Thanks Bridget

[beehio70hive]

i have similar. Nice

[Thebigflyin]

very Clever Phil

well done!!

[beegraham]

Thats a great design so simple yet so effective.

[Bicester Bees]

Great A frame, going to have to make one or two.

[AliceTurner]

The natural products that you have described in your post seems to be good and effective.