Using the top-bar hive--a kinder, gentler beekeeping?

The top bar hive is not a new concept. Historical reference to the top bar hive date back to the 1600's. Most of today's top bar bee hives are derived from work in the 1960's. It was perfected for use in Kenya, Africa, and is often referred to as the Kenya Hive. Today it is also used in many other developing countries for it's simple design and cost effective management methods. In recent years it has also become more popular in the United States.

The Florida State Beekeepers Association meeting this November featured Dr. Wyatt Mangum, who is finishing his graduate training at North Carolina State University. He did something few thought possible. He was able to hold the attention of an audience of committed Langstroth hive fans while describing his experiences with the top-bar hive (TBH) beekeeping. At first glance, this kind of presentation might only be thought appropriate for those in developmental apiculture who work with persons that have few resources to put into beekeeping.

The traditional Langstroth beehive consists of several boxes (supers) and numerous other parts that are either difficult to build or expensive to buy. In addition to the beehive, the Langstroth hive requires many other pieces of equipment to harvest honey and manage your bees. Not so with the top bar hive as you can read below.

The TBH has always been considered a cut below the standard Langstroth hive technology now in place in most areas, especially where beekeeping is a large-scale business. In spite of this, however, I can report that Dr. Mangum's remarks were well received. It seems they appealed to the experimenter and tinkerer that seems to inhabit every beekeeper.

The top bar hive has only a few components: the hive body (box), 25 to 30 top bars (frames), and a lid. That's all you will ever need. Compare that to your Langstroth hive. Bees build their own comb which eliminates the need for costly frames. The top bars are re-used after the harvest.

Dr. Mangum prefaced his remarks by saying that the TBH is well designed for what he wants to do in beekeeping. So almost all of his equipment is now in this format. The hive is inexpensive and can be made out of scrap lumber, perfect for a struggling young academician. It is also a flexible system. Dr. Mangum described reducing his larger hives to decrease their weight by simply using a buck saw to cut several bars off the end.

The top bar hive is healthier for bees. To check your bees, you will not have to take the whole thing apart. Hence, your bees will be less disturbed by your presence and checking of the comb.

He then converted the cut end to a queen-rearing nucleus. This is perhaps the ultimate in hive flexibility. Imagine taking a standard Langstroth 10-frame hive and converting it to an eight-frame model with a nucleus left over in the bargain.

To harvest your honey, you simply remove the bars with honeycomb. Unlike traditional methods, you won't have to take the hive apart and disturb the bees as much. Not only is the top bar hive less stressful to harvest for you, it also does not disturb the bees as much. In addition to honey, the top bar hive has more beeswax to harvest. You also do not need a honey extractor/centrifuge or uncapping knife which saves you thousands of dollars. Smoking is completely unnecessary and many top bar hive users do not wear protective clothing either. (For the beginner I do advise to use some kind of protection, gloves and veil as the minimum!) Once you remove the honey comb, the bees will go about their business as usual. Try that on a Langstroth hive.

Although Dr. Mangum does a lot of queen rearing for which his TBHs are uniquely suited, he also loads these hives in the back of his pickup truck and takes them on the road to pollination contracts. He contends that in spite of his fears to the contrary, they typically suffer little damage during transport.

TBH beekeeping is easier on both bees and beekeeper, according to Dr. Mangum. The brood is generally placed toward the front-entrance end of the hive and the honey is located in the rear. Thus, examining the brood or taking off honey is less stressful on the insects, because one doesn't have to dismantle the whole colony. The top bars butt against each other. Because of this they double as a cover, reducing material requirements and conserving weight.

The top bar hive is designed for the bees' optimal living conditions. This makes a colony much stronger and enables it to fight off pests and diseases on their own, much better than in a Langstroth hive. Besides healthier bees this will save you hundreds of dollars in medication as well as disappointment.

An outer cover of tin or cardboard is necessary, however, to protect the colony from moisture. Only the part of the hive being worked is exposed during manipulation, which reduces overall defensiveness. Finally, all his hives are mounted on stands at waist level, keeping Dr. Mangum from having to continually bend over.

The top bar hive is not designed for maximum honey production, although there have been reports otherwise. For the hobby beekeeper a few pounds less honey are well worth the ease of management. You will harvest more beeswax with a top bar hive though. Any hobbyist should have more of an interest in keeping healthy bees than in squeezing out a few more pounds of honey from a stressed, overworked colony. With just one top bar hive, you will still have more than enough honey for your whole family and friends... [read more]

Others also are doing this kind of beekeeping. James D. Satterfield (e-mail: jsatt@gsu.edu) of Canton, Georgia, says he'll never go back to Langstroth equipment. Mr. Satterfield is contemplating developing a World Wide Web home page dedicated to this technology. Another aficionado is Joel Govostes at Cornell University (e- mail: jwg6@cornell.edu), who said in a message to the Bee-L discussion list on November 8, 1996:

"I would recommend...anyone...try one of these hives out, as it is a real education, enjoyable and fascinating, observing the colony nest construction and growth `au natural.'

When it comes to the wonderful world of beekeeping, there are a variety of concepts and equipment options available on the market. Throughout the years, the United States has taken a liking to the notion of using a top bar hive in their beekeeping efforts. The cost-saving properties, as well as uncomplicated design of the hive have proven a real help for emerging countries, such as in parts of Africa.

Inspecting the hives is easy, and doesn't require much protection, normally. It is not as intrusive as taking apart a multi-story standard hive. The bees tend to just keep going about their business. Harvesting is easy with these hives (just cut the honeycombs from the top bars, leaving a little leftover to serve as a guide for the new combs)."

A history of the this technology was provided by Conrad Berube in "The Kenya Top-Bar Hive as a Better Hive in Developing Countries," American Bee Journal, August 1989, also found on his world wide web site (http://pinc.com/~bwarner/ktbh.htm).

Traditionally, those who have invested their time and money into beekeeping have used the Langstroth beehive. This type of beehive consists of many different boxes and other attachments in order to manage the bees, as well as produce honey. Constructing the Langstroth model is not an easy task and is often quite expensive to purchase. The top bar hive solved some of these problems by offering a simpler design, as well as many other advantages that make beekeeping much easier.

This URL also links to a graphic of plans for such a hive. The top-bar hive is at once more ancient, and one-hundred-years more modern, than Langstroth's, according to Mr. Berube, who describes the specific hive designed for the African country of Kenya, the KTBH:

"...developed along principles of certain Greek basket hives which may date back to the time of Aristotle. Its modern avatar was `invented' by J.D. Tredwell and P. Paterson in 1965 and was employed in a rural extension project directed by the University of Guelph in the 1970's.

Unlike the Langstroth option, a top bar hive consists of a box (often referred to as the hive body); a lid; and about 25-30 frames (top bars). Traditional approaches towards beekeeping often called for the purchase of expensive frames, but with the top bar hive, the bees themselves build the honeycomb. Also, the starting of the comb is made easier for the bees because the top bars are already coated with wax. Once the harvest has passed, the top bars can be used for the next season.

The hive is quite simple in concept. Combs are supported by bars of wood which lay across the narrow width of the trough-like hive-body. The width of each top-bar is equivalent to the natural width of a comb plus a bee-space (35 mm or 1 3/8 inches). Thus, as in the Langstroth hive, the combs are maintained at their natural spacing from one another. Unlike the Langstroth hive, however, the combs in a KTBH are supported only at the top and are not enclosed by a full frame. Honey-comb in natural nests is roughly in the shape of a "U", wider at the top than at the bottom.

Today, the top bar hive offers several different choices in regards to entrance points. The regular model highlights minimal entrance, where another model features many different holes. Another option is to choose a top bar hive with full entrance capabilities.

This shape is stable even when supported only along the top edge. The design of the KTBH (an inverted trapezoid when seen in cross-section) allows the bees to maintain the natural shape of their comb. Since this shape is stable the bees will leave a bee-space along all edges of the comb rather than connecting it to the walls of the hive. The combs can then easily be removed for manipulation or harvesting.

Other methods require taking apart the hive, but with a top bar hive, this is not needed. When it comes time to harvest the honey, simply remove the bars containing honeycomb. There are additional benefits to using a top bar hive. You will also enjoy an increase of beeswax during your harvests. Plus, beekeeping is much easier when you don't have to purchase or use a honey extractor or uncapping knife. Some of these items could cost you an arm and a leg. Not enduring the smoking process is also a relief. Although it is suggested, many top bar hive users do not wear protective gear.

The top-bars have the same, standard length of 480 mm. (19 in.) so that combs may be transferred into Langstroth equipment, for instance to strengthen a broodnest, for those beekeepers who maintain both types of hives."

Because the top bars can be made the same length as in the Langstroth hive, the top-bar hive can also be fitted with standard supers, taking advantage of the best of both hive technologies. Indeed, another way to describe the top-bar hive is one based on a frameless, moveable comb.

Most questions about the top-bar hive concern the number of bars in a colony and the slope of the sides (at least one practitioner says there is minimal attachment even if there is no slope).

Through the design of the hive body, a top bar hive provides an environment that is conducive to the health of the bees. Your daily beekeeping duties will not interrupt the honey-making process when it comes time to check on the comb. Top bar beekeepers are not required to dismantle the whole hive in order to perform routine maintenance.

The actual figures depend on the race of honey bee in use or characteristics desired by the beekeeper. For example, the number of bars can range from 11 to 35 (400 to 1143 mm total hive length); the hive width from 356 mm to 480 mm and depth from 229 mm to 490 mm. The side slope ranges from zero to twenty-three degrees and the top-bar spacing (center to center) can be as little as 30 mm for Apis cerana or as much as 38 mm. for Apis mellifera (European). African bees average 32 mm. For more details, see Bees & Beekeeping: Science, Practice and World Resources by Eva Crane (Heinemann Newnes: 1990).

The living conditions for the bees are considered better when using the top bar hive. For starters, with the positioning of the lid, good ventilation is achieved. Healthy bees are one of the most important beekeeping goals. When the colonies are stronger and healthier, they will be able to better resist harmful pests and diseases. This will also eliminate unwanted medication costs or an inadequate harvest.

Possible disadvantages of the TBH can result from its very flexibility. Too small a hive, for example, can result in unproductive populations that may also swarm excessively. A small frame also means more handling during harvesting honey. Both of these can be modified at the beekeeper's will, however, and tailored to suit individual needs.

Use of Apistan © for Varroa control, a technology more recent than most top-bar hive designs, could pose a problem.

The top bar hive is a great selection for those interested in beekeeping as a hobby. You may not get the maximum amount of honey that others will receive, but it provides easy management for beginners. One thing you will get more of is beeswax, which can be used to your advantage in many different ways. Also, for the environmentally conscious, a top bar hive reduces the stress levels and overworking of a bee colony. Even with the purchase of one top bar hive, you will have more than your fair share of honey for relatives and friends to enjoy.

The plastic strips are designed to be inserted between frames in the Langstroth hive, so presumably a small notch between top bars is needed to accommodate them. Some beekeepers also put notches elsewhere for ventilation in the sides of the boxes and/or in the bars themselves to give bees access to supers, should they be used.

A key issue in using the TBH is to provide the bees with a good foundation to build strong comb. This can be anything from a simple waxed string to a strip of regular foundation melted onto the middle of the top bar.

Top Bar Hive Features:
• Hand made in the USA,
• 100% stong, high-quality cedar board including lid (no cheap metal or plastic!),
• Exterior screws (no cheap nails or glue),
• The outside has been sealed with a high quality wood sealer. The inside is not painted and should remain so.,
• The hive comes with 25 bars which have been started with wax to help the bees start the comb in the right place.,
• This hive is new and has never been used.,
• About 37" long by 20" wide by 12" high,
• The bottom board is inside the side walls which helps rain water run off the side without water seeping into the floor board.,
• The lid sits on a one inch raised board to allow for good ventilation.,
• Your choice of entrance style,
• Optional window for easy inspection... [read more]

Mr. Satterfield suggests immersing brown paper bags in wax and cutting them into strips to make a reinforced starter strip. A maximum of one-half inch is suggested. If it is too large, comb distortion can result. A final advantage is that the comb is built according to the nature of the bees themselves. The resultant cell size, therefore, is potentially much more `natural,' (based on the bee that built it) than that constructed on wax foundation. Some believe much of what presently ails modern beekeeping is the manipulation of insect size via "artificial" foundation. After hearing Dr. Mangum and then reading more about top-bar hive technology, I realized it makes for a kinder, gentler beekeeping, perfectly suited for the urban setting. It may be just the ticket for those neophyte beekeepers I am now seeing at meetings who don't want take up beekeeping as an avocation, but would like a colony or two for educational purposes or pollinating their home garden.