# Tanzanian top bar hive



## AndrewSchwab (Dec 9, 2005)

I seem to think at one time there was pdf file in the plans section to make a Tanzanian top bar hive. But I can't seem to find it, or just a straight forward plans to making one  

I have looked through the topics and still have not found a straight forward plan layout. Someone please help me


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Here's what mine is:

The sides are one by twelves 47 1/4" long. The bottom is a one by six 47 1/4" long. The ends are one by twelves 15" long. None of the boards is ripped or beveled. They are just cut for length and nailed together. The sides are spread to where they fit the ends and the ends are nailed. I ended up using deck screws on the end because when I pried the bars over I would pry the end off of the hive. 

Pictures here: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm


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## stangardener (Mar 8, 2005)

i think if we got technical ( if thats possible with top bar hives







) the tanzanians have straight sides kenyans have angled sides. does the poster have a preferance?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Sorry. Brain short circut. My Tansinian Top Bar hive is two one by eights 47 1/4" long with a 3/8" wide 3/4" deep frame rest on them. The ends are 19 7/8" glued and screwed onto the ends. The bottom is #8 hardware cloth on the bottom with a one by twos across the middle for support across the ends. The sides are then filled in (between the one by twos) with a 2 by 2 to make room to slide in a tray. The hive sets on four by fours for a stand and I slide a piece of corragated plastic in for a tray which rests on the four by fours.

pictures here:

www.bushfarms.com


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I should point out that mine will also take standard medium frames as well as 19" top bars. The lids are stadard migratory covers. You can put standard supers on if you want to super.


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

I built a couple following Michaels design and took pictures of the process

http://www.drobbins.net/bee's/lh/lh.html

Dave


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## AndrewSchwab (Dec 9, 2005)

ooopss meant kenyans, appears to be easier to pull comb out bit more room for those shakey hands.
please a good set of plans and pictures someone


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## Wojtek (May 31, 2005)

Try this 2 URLs Description is in Polish but pictures will give you at least some idea how I did it.
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~netpol/POLISH/Ule/Wojtekshives2.html
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~netpol/POLISH/Ule/ul%20bezramkowy.html

Narrower hives are easer, wide and deep are more difficult to handle. The only dimension which has to be precise is the width of top bar. 1 ¼ , a few first several bars, and then 1 ½ the rest. If you do all of them 1 3/8 probably you will be OK too. If it will be too narrow, in a distant bars, you can always put some narrow (1/8 or 3/8) slat between them. There is different story if you want to combine frames in your TBH. I am not so my hives are from 20 to 24 ( external width) and four feet long. Side walls are not connected at the bottom. There is 1 gap closed with #8 wire cloth ( window screen) This also does not have to be exactly like this.
Other thing I regard as very important is thermal insulation. The rest will be your ingenuity.
I don't have plans. Each of my hive is slightly different. Comfortable height was my priority.
Wojtek


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>you can always put some narrow (1/8 or 3/8) slat between them.

That's what I do when they start getting too far off.

>...my hives are from 20 to 24 ( external width) and four feet long.

Mine are aproximately 20" (19 7/8" external width) but that's just so I can use regular frames. That's worth it to me, but if it weren't for that I'd probably go 15 or 16" wide beacuse it's easier to keep the combs from curving off of the bar on the ends. Mine are also approximately four feet long. It seems to work out to be a good length.


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## stangardener (Mar 8, 2005)

i think bwrangler has plans on his sight. i think you can access his site from here at beesource. if you do a web search on "calkenyan" you should get some plans. i started at jim satterfields site and followed the links. my last years hives were 3' long they have 25 bars and were sufficiant and may be easier to manage if you are able to visit your hives often. this years hives are 4' long. after i finished the first one i thought that with a paddle i could almost use it as a small canoe. they have 33 bars and now that ive made a few they dont seem as differant. keep us posted as to your progress.


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## DANIEL QUINCE (Jan 15, 2006)

Dave, what are the bottom slats for?
Do you need a board to restrict the space to the number of frames used? Is there a need for a queen excluder? How are the bees getting through the winter in a long hive with brood and food distributed horizontally?
Thanks for your patience.
Daniel


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>How are the bees getting through the winter in a long hive with brood and food distributed horizontally?

I've been wintering them in long hives since 2002 with good luck. They move across the hive as the winter progresses, just like they would move up in a vertical hive.


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## Wojtek (May 31, 2005)

I am using movable partition for winter made with 1 thick pink styrofoam to reduce cubature, but I see from your experience that this is not quite necessary, but may help.


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

I've just built my hives this winter
I'll be putting bees in them this spring
I have a couple of follower board so I can reduce
the size of the space while they get established
when I was building the follower boards a thought occured to me
this is a really flexible design
if one were so inclined, you could use 2 follower boards to partition off each end of the hive and then run it as 2 langstroth's (it has an entrance at both ends)
with a bunch of follower boards, you could split it into 5 or 6 nuc's
it just strikes me as a very versatile piece of equipment

slat's, hmm
think about a langstroth hive with a screened bottom
during the winter they move up in the hive
they get protection from drafts from the empty combs in the bottom box
in a long hive they don't get this protection
they're always 4 or 5 inches from the bottom
unless you have those slat's
they help baffle the wind
are they nessecary??
I have no idea, I'm wingin it here
I've just taken a lot of what sound like good ideas and tried to combine em
I also mentioned somewhere in response to this question that I was in "hobby shop" mode when I built them
they may be overkill, but I wasn't in production mode, I only built 2, overkill is a good thing









1 other thought
think about natural mite fall in a hive with 2 deeps for a brood chamber
if a mite falls off a bee half way up the second box, it has to fall thru 13-14 inches of bees to reach the bottom
in a long hive it has to fall 3-4 inches to reach the bottom
will this enhance natural mite fall?
I don't see how it could do anything else
will it be noticable??
I don't know

Dave


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## PaulR (May 24, 2005)

I just wanted to say what a great thread this was, I'll be starting some TBH this year.


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## oldgreyone (Apr 30, 2005)

Last year was my first year with TBH's. At one point I had 3 Kenyon hives. I found that having three of them right next to each other on saw horses was a mistake. It seemed that all the bees from the center one eventually drifted away to one of the other two. Than I had one hive die out in December. I'm not sure why. I was feeding them, but when I noticed no action I checked and they were all dead with nothing in the cells. The other hive has almost all of their cells filled with nector already from miner's lettuce, chick weed, and a low growing mint that grows everywhere here. Maybe just bad genes on those that died?

This year I have 8 Kenyons, one of which will be given to the local bee club to set up a display in the clubs apiary. I also want to make some Tanzanian hives that will take Langstroth frames also. So many things to try, life seems too short.


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