Top Bar Hive Build.....

[FarmerD]

in the end, they'll look like this.......

ill be picking up the material for the legs tomorrow, and placing the order for the metal roof in the next day or so. still waiting for warmer weather to paint the roofs and remaining 8 hives. ill get some more pics up as assembly continues

 

[Joel_BC]

FarmerD, I commend you for posting a photo-illustrated, multi-phase DIY homestead project on the SS site.

Great project. The hive system looks fascinating. My only experience with bees has been with the now-conventional frame and stackable box hive design.

Hats off to the hands-on lifestylers!

 

[Beekissed]

Great job on those!!!! I love the TBHs and once had one I made from a blue, plastic barrel. I love how they are tended, I love it that the bees make natural comb and that the comb is not reused.

As a woman I find using a TBH method easier than lifting heavy pieces of hive around to add more space.

Will you be using a more natural method in your beekeeping as well?

 

[FarmerD]

we very deliberately chose to start our beekeeping careers with top bars. our plan is to go into commercial bee production utilizing treatment free, small/natural cell and feral genetics, and top bar. in the end i plan on a bit over 100 of these hives, each with the option of operating as a full 4' hive or 2 2' nucs. the basis of our sales will be shook swarms from our colonies. this will put us in the situation of having a very large population on our farm at the strategic moment of the year when we need the most pollination services. then we will sell off the excess population for a profit and spend the rest of the season rebuilding. artificial swarms, as opposed to packages, have a much higher success rate through their first winter. we aspire to build a reputation on this concept. we will also raise a number of queens and sell small quantities of honey and wax.

 

[Beekissed]

That's an excellent plan! That's what I wanted to do also when I had my bees....no chemicals and a return to a more feral style bee that doesn't need coddling to survive.

There's one site I liked that was a proponent of the TBH and of the more natural approach and he even posts his health certificates each year after he stopped treating for the varroa mites and you could see the progressive improvement of his hive health via the health inspection results year after year.

You might find his site very interesting because he has the same ideas you have: http://bushfarms.com/bees.htm

 

[FarmerD]

 

[wyoDreamer]

That is a really neat project. I would love to have a bee hive on the property. I need to look into what we have for options with all the rented farm fields around us.

@FarmerD Love everything you have planned for your property! that is long term planning for sure. It makes me think about things we can do here in zone 4. DH already nixed the walnut trees I had on the order form. I have to admit, 70 bucks for two is pretty expensive for a grafted walnut that has a good chance of dying...

 

[FarmerD]

featured thread?!? have i made the big time or what!

i havent forgot about this thread. been busy trying to get this project knocked out before spring, but cold and rain has delayed painting and a truck repair has delayed obtaining the metal roofing. i should be getting some pics of topbar machining, roof construction, and leg assembly soon. wont be but a week or two, and ill have bee pics!

 

[FarmerD]

my apiary was new last year, and was started from a mix of survivor swarms and small cell packages. all the colonies had to build lots of comb to get started. that is the major reason for the high losses. unlike an established hive that has most of its comb already built and can go to work straight away storing nectar and pollen, my colonies spent their energies building comb. even though we fed them most of the year, not all were able to put back enough honey to last the winter. to be honest, i expected the high losses. we knew going into winter that alot of the colonies didnt have enough stores to make it through winter.
so the lesson ill take away for this spring is to make all my splits as early as possible to give the bees as much time to gather nectar for the winter as possible. ill be getting 6 colonies from cut outs during the spring on a barter situation and im sure ill catch some more feral swarms that ill have to nurse through the winter, but i shouldnt bear the same losses i did this winter. another thing i'm taking away from this last year is that i need to feed heavily during the dearth we experience in the heat of the summer to keep them from burning up their stores too early. of course we kept all the drawn comb out of the dead outs to reuse this year and that will help too, but the main thing
going forward is to plant much bee forage so we can cut out the feeding all together by next year.

all in all, its not a bad situation. i was hoping to hit 50-60 hives this year, but in all likelihood ill only get to about 40. that will reduce my projected sales for next spring, but i should still make enough to cover the costs of establishing the apiary and pocket a little profit. we should see significant income by year 4....... not too bad for our first farm venture i dont think

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You might be the only person I know who is busier than me!