# TBH Build



## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

I'm sure a lot of people have posted their builds but I decided to add mine as well.
I used SketchUp to design what I wanted which is a lot of different ideas from a lot of other peoples builds. My design is slightly changing from time to time but I have built the base and I'll be building on it from there.








This TBH is new to me but I had about 22 hives that I worked at a local farm about 20 years ago....and have decided to get back into it so this is the route that I'm taking at the moment......something different.
I've got the rest of the year to get it ready but I know me and I'll be pushing to getting it completed.

Thanks for checking it out.


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## txbeek (May 21, 2013)

Now you need all the bars, then another hive and bars, then a nuc or two, then swarm traps, then queen breeding nucs. You are off to a great start - beautiful hive. Now get to building more. One hive is never enough!!


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Looks good to me. Looks very much like the one i built a few years ago. make some bars, throw a chunk of plywood over it and call it a day.


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## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

Jake....
I wish I were that simple. LOL
I'm heading out to get some more wood but as for now I've got 20 of the 30 frame bars done and the roof frame work. 
I'll post a pic or two when I get back home.

Got to decide on where to put the entrance, what type of legs / stand I want to build for the hive, what to cover the roof with, and finally a type of screen bottom / tray that can be slid out to either clean the screen and or check the tray for mites that may have fallen...got some ideas but need to sketchUp them to see if I like it. Oh I may want to hinge the top but that will depend on the entrance location...as of right now - it will be lifted off.


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## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

Well it's been a long day but like what I've got done.


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## Marysia2 (May 23, 2014)

PHudson said:


> Jake....
> Got to decide on where to put the entrance, what type of legs / stand I want to build for the hive, what to cover the roof with, and finally a type of screen bottom / tray that can be slid out to either clean the screen and or check the tray for mites that may have fallen...got some ideas but need to sketchUp them to see if I like it. Oh I may want to hinge the top but that will depend on the entrance location...as of right now - it will be lifted off.


I have 2 TBH, from different builders: both have hinged lids, and I'm glad they do. They both have screened bottoms but one has a drop-down "trap door" and the other has 2 sliding panels (each half the length of the hive). I definitely prefer the sliding panels. I have "port hole" entrances along the length of the hives. You can use corks to open or close these easily.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

we did solid bottom board. my gf's first top bar had screened and we liked that they could regulate the temps better with solid. I tried a fancy roof and we found it was too heavy, didn't both with trying to hinge it. just use a 3/4" plywood with some bricks on top. 

definitely like end entrances. It keeps things simple with brood nest location and everything moves backwards from there. 

3 entrance holes vertically along the front. they propolize them up as they want. 









you can see the stand we made too.. 4x4 posts with 2x6 cross beams. has room for 2 but only one there so far. The hive is attached with a 2x4 screwed to the bottom of it and then that is screwed to the cross beams. that way it can be moved without having to take combs out.


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## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

Very Nice Jake......Noticed that you have a window in the side. Do you use it a lot so you don't have to open the top or after a while you just stop using the window feature?
Marysia..thanks for your comments. I do find people have different reasons for positioning the entrance holes, which more seem to use holes instead of slots and I guess the reason for that is the holes are just easier to make and like you suggested...can be plugged with a cork or sorts.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

It is at my gf's house but I would use it a bunch when i'd go over there and take a peak in. Haven't used it lately because the plexiglass i had in it warped and made a gap so they use the gap as a side entrance. She is going to decide if she wants to keep it for just put a board over it and close it up. Personally, I like being able to peak in, but i'd use real glass in the future or make some molding for the inside to really lock it down. 

you can see that the plexi is flush with the inside and caulked. i'd make the groove deeper and put some strips of wood over the edges to keep the edges down.


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## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

Well after a lot of reading last night and this morning I've decided to go with a solid bottom...for now anyway...maybe a removable one. I will also change some of my 1.5" bars and make them 1.375". I had also not thought about the 3/8" spacer between the front of the hive and the first frame so I'll take care of that as well. Still thinking about a viewing window. Got some ideas on a stand for the whole thing so some SketchUp time will further complete that. I still have to figure out what to cover the sloped rood in. Oh and I'm gonna add the entrance to the front of the hive so I can stand on either side when checking the frames. I think I'm going to put them about mid-ways up. So many decisions but things can always be changed on the next build.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I like a stand like Jake's. If you have to move the have and it has legs attached to it is a pain. I can set up a stand, level it and then move the hive to the new location. Less fuss.

I like thinner bars. I kill fewer bees on the bars that are thinner (top to bottom) since there are fewer bees that can get in there.


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## J-Rat (Dec 10, 2013)

I will agree about the thinner bars. If I had a table saw when I built my TBH I would have ripped the bars down. When I do a check on all of the bars I seem to smash a few bees when closing up the hive. ( With the summer heat, no rain or flowers, The girls have become a little mean. I started feeding them two weeks ago. seems to have helped.)


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## Apismellifera (Oct 12, 2014)

I'm fairly happy with my solid bottom/slide out tray/screen setup... Routed a slot with the tablesaw and used a scrap piece of frp for the tray - bright white so stuff shows well, fairly indestructible, easy to clean, just a bit of wood glue to secure it to the "door". The door is just the bottom of the endboard trimmed off, enough room to access the screen above the tray. Screen cut down from a window screen from habitat restore. I grab screen frames > 4' for this use. The screen rides on shelf pegs I installed on the sideboards before assembly and sits about an inch above the bottom/tray.

I think I might also put a similar little hinged drop down door in front so I can use a long brush to sweep out the bottom occasionally. Now anything in the front corners is impossible to remove. Kept finding a few what I think were wax moth larvae on the tray so put down a bit of DE on the bottom board. Now if I remove both the tray and screen (and you have to get the tray out of there to slide the screen out completely) bees can get on the bottom board and into the DE and no easy way to get rid of it. I had a coupla girls get in it and some other bees were brutalizing them, not sure what was happening but it didn't look good for anyone, I was worried that the DE would transfer from one bee to many and that would be bad. I'll be cutting another piece of frp the width of the screen to slide in ON TOP of the screen 'cuz it might be a bit floopy if I try to slide it in underneath and miss the pegs, so the bees cannot get down there when I remove the screen. Wait, that might not work 'cuz I'll knock off whatever's on the screen by sliding something over it and the tray won't be there to catch it... I'll have to see if the frp is rigid enough to go under the screen and if not then perhaps a piece of sheet metal or something that is more rigid or a bit of frame for the frp.

I've been thinking on this for awhile and I just realized that if I put a hinged door on the front I can pull the screen out there and also clean, making a separate tray unnecessary tho' I may do that in the meantime before the next one's built. I'll move the bees into the new hive and retrofit this one in the same manner.

What seems odd to me is that the only thing EVER on the screen are a few dead bees, no sign of the wax moth or whatever they are larvae on the screen or combs.

Other pics of the build at: http://topbarhives.info/get-a-swarm/installed-the-swarm/


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

It looks good, but it seems like there are lots of nooks and crannies with that screen setup. I liked the pics on your website! What is that you are using for the outer cover? It looks like some kind of wallboard, is it exterior rated? Looks like an easy way to go.


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## Apismellifera (Oct 12, 2014)

Hardiplank, a leftover chunk that'd been sitting about for years, you can see the siding on the shop and the hive roof in one shot. Seems quite indestructible, a bit heavy. I beveled the edges at the peak as necessary and topped it with a random piece of angle aluminum. It's wet here, wanted a nice overhang and peak to keep water off the sides and ends of the hive. I've since screened under the top in case I decide to remove spacers for ventilation they can't get up in there and build. I'd move the triangle pieces in toward the center a bit more to give a bit more of a "porch" on the topbars on either end. Do away with the attached porch.

I dunno about the nooks and crannies. Tried to build as simply and cleanly as possible. The sideboards are beveled where they meet the bottom board, so those seams are tight. The tray fits tightly into the bottom, the screen fits snugly against the all sides. And since the tray and screen are removable it's easy to clean everything out. Or will be as soon as I get a little dropdown door in front, be able to get a brush completely through to remove any debris that's gotten off the tray or play with DE or other stuff down there.

I'm working this all out in my head for the next build which I'll document better than the last, with pics and more dimensions so it can be reproduced easily. I see a lot of patterns that are stoopid - much too difficult, clunky, ugly. PHudson has a nice clean aesthetic that I like, was looking for better solutions than I came up with. Always.


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## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

First off...thanks for all the post and information that everyone has shared.
My first build is getting closer to being complete.







I may have gone a bit over board with this build but I'll learn what to do or not to do the next go around. I still need to build the stand and install the bottom board. I've gone back and forth about - to screen or not to screen. Part of me says the bees can control the temp better with a solid bottom, and the other part is thinking about being able to check on mites. Then there is another part thinking that the bees need control of every nook and cranny so they can house-keep, defend the hive and be able to get at things that a solid bottom offers etc etc. Don't know at this point.
I did design this hive with the 60 degree / 120 degree angles in mind but have seen a lot of other success with other angles and straight sides...and even a few 55 gallon drums cut in half. I did add a landing board...just because.... and did decide to go with an end entrance about 2/3 the way up. Again a lot of this may mean nothing to the bees but we will see.
Again thanks for the postings.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

Solid bottom!


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

looks good.. +1 for solid bottom. you can always do mite checks with sugar shake/jar method


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## PHudson (Sep 27, 2014)

Well the hive itself is finished and now to build the stand which I've all ready designed. I think the hardest part of the build were the top bars. After I figured out how to cut out the triangles to add to the bottom of the bars...it was all down hill from there.
I did a lot of detail work on the hive in Sketchup and decided to share so I'm going to attach it here for everyone's review. If you use sketchup and view the file....let me know your thoughts..... Well I tried to add it under manage attachments but it will not accept a zip file even though it shows it as a valid file type. If you would like the file...them pm me.
Thanks again for the help along the way.

Palmer


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