# TBH Design Questions



## bobsim (Jan 27, 2015)

Hi John,

I'm new too, two home built Hives. My first hive is three months old and the follower board is unnecessary now as the colony has built up about a third of the hive. 

One of the things I learned from the first build is the dimensions of the hive will change due to humidity, heat etc. My advise is not to get hung up on the hive being a little wider/narrower in the center, better to build the lid and bars to accommodate the movement. My bars were 1/8" under sized and still wound up binding on the cover due to swelling (hinged lid.) I wound up cutting a 1/4" off of them later when opening the lid raised most of the bars because they were in bind.

I think a fixed follower will be a problem down the road as bar width, propolis and shims make proper placement of the follower all but impossible. My advise would be to make it fit the ends then use shims when it's in use in the middle. I found tin foil folded and placed between the follower and hive body works well and the bees leave it alone.

You might consider adding a viewing window, it sure is nice to be able to watch/check on the girls without opening up the hive.

Hope it helps, Bob.


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## SWAT253 (May 11, 2015)

Nice construction! I think you have all you need.

I just went with two follower boards and used one with a 1/2 in hole near the bottom to let them pass into the space with my feeder bottles in it. They use it effectively. The other separates the unused bars until I need the space. I did notice swelling since it's been raining for two weeks, but I had the clearance to accept it and all is well.

I did add the viewing window and it's handy to sneak a peek in the morning and afternoon without disturbing the hive. My wife wasn't a fan per se, but yesterday she asked if she could look thru the glass! Now, she wants to try spotting the queen...


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## Jon Wolff (Apr 28, 2013)

John,
What exactly is your concern with the "sag"? Do the bars not fit in the middle due to the walls bulging out? Or are you concerned the follower board doesn't fit tightly? Personally, I wouldn't go to all the trouble of adding something structurally to the center of the hive. That will become a big nuisance later. It doesn't matter if the bees get through the follower to the back of the hive. In fact, I want them patrolling the whole hive to keep other creatures out. In my area, ****roaches will soon colonize the back of a beehive if allowed to do so. You'll find that being able to move bars freely the whole length of the hive is far more important than having a perfectly fitting follower board. But if your bars aren't fitting, maybe adding 2x's on the outside, aligned with the top, will help pull in some of that sag, especially if you found a couple with an opposing warp. Just a thought.


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## John Craig (May 18, 2015)

Thanks to everyone for the input. My choice of top bar stock was an available 1-1/4" W. x 36" L. square poplar dowel (1-3/8" is also available). Therefore, I would get two bars out of each dowel at 18" long. However, my choice of stock for sides and bottom at the approriate 120 deg. angle makes the top span about 19" apart. So, I was having to deal with a way to set them inside of the sides which would require them to be fairly straight.

So, I've scrapped the dowels for this design and will rip new ones from 3/4" plywood unless there are better choices. I will also brace the sides with 2x2 Cedar "rails" (as Jon mentioned) which will be cut long to double as handles. I have selected two clean boards which have a uniform bow along their length to help.

I will save the poplar dowels which have all been cut to 18" for the next hive. I was thinking about an idea for a top bar "super" for this hive. Thanks again for all the help and ideas.


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## John Craig (May 18, 2015)

The rails worked perfectly. Now, on to cutting top bars and a lid. Thanks again for all the help.

John


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## Cub Creek Bees (Feb 16, 2015)

John Craig said:


> View attachment 18892
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> John


Yer bees are gonna crash and the honey's gonna run out of that set up...


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## Greenride (Jul 7, 2013)

John, I think the beams you installed will work fine. On my second topbar I used cleats inside the hive to rest the top bars on, coincidentally 18 inches too. I used topbar stock for my cleats they run from front to back on both sides set down into the hive 3/4" so that the top of the top bars are flush to the hive edges when installed. I was initially concerned that the bees would build under the cleats but they never have. Both top bar hives do attach comb to the sides but I think that's just life.
I think you'll be happy you didn't go with the fixed "follower" especially the open version. That seems like it would cross comb written all over it.
My blog address is below if you want to see my plans, March 2013. I can't seem to add pictures with from my iPad 
Fabian


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