Top Bar Hive. Erin Champion, Abbey Noah, Wes Randall, and Anna Sauls. November 23, 2010 HS IntroducDon to Permaculture

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1 Top Bar Hive Sustainable, Chemical Free, Natural Beekeeping Erin Champion, Abbey Noah, Wes Randall, and Anna Sauls November 23, 2010 HS IntroducDon to Permaculture

2 Why Would You Want A Beehive? Honey Bees are excellent pollinators, their presence is good for the local flora Honey and Wax can both be harvested from an established hive The Honey Bee population is dwindling due to disease and loss of natural habitat, keeping bees is an environmentally conscious act

3 With awareness and caution keeping bees can be perfectly safe for everyone near the hive

4 Types of Beehives TradiDonal Beehives hallow structure where bees ajach the comb to the walls. The only way to extract honey is by destroying the comb Skeps basket hive with single entrance hole Hives made of clay and used in Mediterranean

5 Types of Beehives Modern Hives Structure is vendlated and oqen has removable components to make honey harvest easier. Langstroth hives hive with thin rectangular structures that have the wax already built into it Top Bar Hive Bars placed across the top where the bees ajach the comb to the bars as opposed to the frames in the Langstroth

6 Top Bar Comb

7 Materials Body Panels: 12 x 1 Dmbers 2 at 36 long and 2 and 15 long Roof Frame: 3 x 1 2 at 38 long and 2 at 19 long Roof: ½ thick and 22 wide Heavy duty garden mesh Beeswax Top Bars: ¾ thick x 1 ¼ wide and square dowels 25 cut into 17 length and square dowels cut to 9 length

8 Budget Items and Cost: All New Untreated Wood - ~42 Heavy duty garden mesh - ~$6 Beeswax - $2 Found Items: Roof: ½ thick and 4 wide Exterior screws /nails

9 Assembly of Hive Body Measure and cut wood to size. None of the boards are ripped or beveled. They are just cut for length and screwed together.

10 Assembly of Hive Body On the end boards two marks are made 2.5 on either side of center The side pieces are ajached at those marks with screws.

11 Assembly of Hive Body The top corners of the side pieces are then spread to the outside corners of the end pieces and secured in place with screws. Drilling pilot holes is recommended.

12 Adding Mesh Floor Floorboard (mesh floor) Mesh forms a convex curve inside the hive forms a bee- proof and moth- proof seal. Measure and cut the garden mesh to completely cover the bojom from outside edge to outside edge. Hold in place with flat- headed pins or tacks

13 Adding Handles or legs The roof frame will rest on top of either the handles or legs so they should be installed 2 from and parallel to the top of the hive The handle was craqed from scraps.

14 Adding Entrances Drill three 1 holes centered on one side, 2 from the floor Make another two entrances on the opposite side by drilling a 1 hole 3 from each end and 2 from the floor.

15 Assembly of Roof Measure and cut the roof Roof pieces: 10 wide and 38 long Measure around the top of the hive box and build a frame, screwed at the corners, that will easily slide over the top. Be sure to leave.25 slack in both direcdons to allow movement.

16 Assembly of Roof Measure and cut the triangle gables to create a gabled roof. Be sure to leave an inch of board on the bojom of the gable for connecdon to the frame. Gables are ajached to the inside of the roof frame. Then the roof panels are screwed to the gables. Flashing is then used to bridge the gap between the roof panels.

17 Assembly of Top Bars You will need approximately 25 Top Bars for each hive. Making of the Top Bars: Measure ¾ thick x 1 ¼ wide Dmber to 17 length Measure square dowels to 9 length Measure the center of the Dmbers and dowels Line up the centers and nail each end of the dowel to secure into place. Seal the bojom edge with beeswax

18 Weather proofing Coat the outer surface with a 1:20 rado of beeswax to linseed oil. Heat in a double boiler. Paint on outside of hive with close ajendon to end grain, nail heads and joints.

19 Finished Product!

20 References Chandler, PJ. How to Build a Top Bar Hive. 27- October hjp:// Bush Bees - hjp:// Tumbledown Farmer s Blog hjp://tumbledownfarm.blogspot.com/2007/04/top- bar- beehive- backyard- wildlife.html About Honeybees Texas A&M University Honeybee InformaDon Site Aug 2007 Texas A&M University. 27 Feb 2008 hjp://honeybee.tamu.edu/index.html.

21 References Blodner, David. Facts About Honeybees Backyard Beekeepers AssociaDon. Sept Feb hjp:backyardbeekeepers.com/facts.html Top Bar Hive Top Bar Beekeeping hjp:// bar- hive.com/about- top- bar- hives/all- types- of- beehives/