Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[biobee]

I haven't been around here very much lately - you may have noticed. The main reason for my absence is that I have been working on the long-promised second book in the Balanced Beekeeping series - Managing a Top Bar Hive. I has turned out to be something of a marathon task and will probably be close to 360 pages when finished.

I am hopeful of publishing early in the new year (yes, I know I said that last year...)

Meanwhile, I would appreciate your comments on this:


Notation System
I have developed a shorthand notation system to make it easier to describe various operations and layouts using only text and common keyboard symbols. This system can be used to describe TBH layouts in a compact, standardised way, without the need to draw diagrams, which are not always clear. It should prove especially useful in web forums and social media.


Key
<> = ends of hive, left and right (parentheses will have to be used here, however)
|= follower
: = queen excluder (QX)
B = brood (mainly worker brood)
D = drone (mainly drone brood)
e = entrance, in use
(e) = entrance, closed
E = empty comb or empty bar
F = feeder (end or top)
H = honey stores (may have some unsealed stores)
N = nectar (may have some sealed honey)
P = pollen (comb with significant pollen stores)
Q = queen
-Q = queen-less (where a queen would normally be present)
q = virgin queen

(edited as per posts below)

For example, a typical layout prior to adding bees to an empty hive might be:

-------e
( F | E E E E E E E E | )
------------------------(e)

The diagram shows, from the left: a feeder, follower board, 8 empty bars, another follower and some empty space. There are two entrances on opposite sides, one of which is closed.

A mature colony might look something like this:

-------e
( F | N B B Q B B B N N H H H H H E E | )
-----------------------------------------------(e)

A divided colony, with the queen on one side and developing cells on the other, might look like this:

--------e
( F | H N B Q P N | N B B C H H H H E E | )
--------------------------------------------------(e)

In most cases, I use such diagrams to indicate the 'before and after' arrangements of combs in a general way, and there is usually no need to follow them exactly. The symbol for the queen, for example, (Q) is only shown to indicate which side of a division she is in, and not her exact position in the hive! Likewise, C may indicate more than one developing queen cell.

NB - the spaces between characters were suggested by someone with a visual impairment, to aid clarity.

I have replaced the hive ends < > with parentheses ( ) here as I realized that this forum software reserves < > for special markup purposes.

[ingo50]

Thanks for the update Phil. Your symbols look very logical, would also come in handy when making a more detailed inspection of a TBH , or for beekeepers with large numbers of colonies.
What is the difference in the symbol for queenless and queen right ? I cannot see any.
Also look forward to your new book, I will definately buy a copy, please let us know when it is ready for sale.
Ingo

[trekmate]

[biobee]

Ah, yes... the original had a # over the Q, but of course that is not standard ASCII so it doesn't show up.

How about a lower case q ?

Or X?

[trekmate]

I was thinking the lower case q would be most obvious. My other thought was "-Q".

[biobee]

Actually, q would be perfect for a virgin queen! I like -Q for queen-less.

[trekmate]

Good idea!

Just needs "b" for a worker & "B" for a drone....

[biobee]

It might be worth having a D for Drone, reserving B for worker brood by default.

[rays]

Perhaps a minor detail, but the nuc side currently does not appear to have any entrance to get out and in?

e
( F | H N B Q P N | N B B C H H H H E E | )
(e)

Could it be

e
( F | H N B Q P N | N B B C H H H H E E | )
(e) (e) e (e)

to indicate the open entrances should be on opposite sides and that you've reduced the number of entrances?

(There's an issue with trying to illustrate this properly in the post because I can't use non-breaking spaces to "move" my group of three entrance holes to the middle of the hive!)

[rays]

......e...........................................(e)....
( F | H N B Q P N | N B B C H H H H E E | )
(e)................... (e) e (e)...............(e)....

??

[biobee]

Ah yes, leading spaces have been removed...

So I edited my original post by adding ---- marks, but ... would be at least as good.

[KayE]

Thank you Phil for your latest offering. Just got my copy and feel it will become a well thumbed resource.

[hannah donovan]

Hi Phil
well i thought i would give a suggestion, how about a large print edition for shorter sighter and older readers and a colour coded or shorter edition for dyxlexic people...as you know reading isnt easy for me..but i get by on short bites.

[PaulEastSussex]

[AlanT]

I don't see the the designation for "C" in the Key. I am guessing capped brood.