Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[Adam B]

I have been researching top bar hives and at this point that I'm curious about is the entrance design choices.

I've noted that the Philip Chandler design has the entrance in the middle of the side.


Other designs, such as this one from Michael Bush strongly suggest having it at the end:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm


The other item of note, is the PC design has the entrance at the bottom and the MB design, clearly on the top.

Is there a strong reason for either of these designs? Or is this merely personal preference?

[SWbee]

[imago]

Hello,

I have made two hives with central entrances and two with border entrances, although not directly on the border, rather on the front but at both ends with an entry sas as depicted before.

I'm happy with the later because :
- easier temperature control when it's cold
- less wasp and other bees attacks
- honey reserve are stored at the opposite of the entrance

[Adam B]

Interesting! Thanks for the replies.

I feel I may have found a spot close to my house which will accommodate a few hives.

I'm currently pondering hTBH vs Warre.

Certainly removing the need to lift boxes gives one point for the hTBH.

I also need to be able to build these myself, as I don't have the budget to buy.

[catchercradle]

I don't do splits myself and rely on swarms if I want to increase hive numbers but another practical reason for end entrances is you can with a follower board (or two depending on how well they fit) have two colonies in a TBH and use half of the hive for doing a split or for swarm control. (I don't stop my bees swarming either but if you want to do that it gives you the option.)

[imago]

As catchercradle mentionned it, I forgot to add the advantage of side entrances is that you can host two colonies in the same hive.

I orginally started with Warré hives and made multiple tests over many years but eventually decided to switch to hktbh. The main reasons were :
- the bees never wanted to build more than two boxes and decided to swarm instead
- I could never manage to have one box full of honey
- It's heavy to lift
- It's impossible to move them afterwards (in my country beekeeper move hives higher and higher in the mountain during the season, then down for winter)

It is not that the Warré hive is bad, it is probably because the bees I'm using (a local variety of carnica) and the climate (short season) are not the perfect fit for this hive.

[Adam B]

Thanks for the details!

As an aside, I am discovering a lot of advice I have been reading is difficult to qualify just as you pointed out, because people's bees and climates vary so much. This is ignoring the temperment of the beeKEEPER (rather than the bees). Eventually I'll need to much in and figure it out for myself, but for now I'll keep reading.

Thanks again.

[catchercradle]

[flowrida]

End entrances probably make life easier when you have a commercial operation like this guy uses: tbhsbywam (dot com) Some really in depth studies of using the TBH there.
I'm in the Fens, so the agricultural desert is a worry, especially when they are spraying the fields. Might have to move near some organic farmland, or uncultivated area sometime.