# How to manage a TBH



## F6Hawk (Mar 31, 2014)

Is there a good link here that explains TBH management? I am piecing together some info among various threads, but need a bit more info. I have an opportunity to buy a TBH with bees for a good price, but thus far all my experience has been with 8-frame medium Langs.


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## Needo (Sep 10, 2013)

"Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health" had a very good section on hive management, and I thought "The Thinking Beekeeper: A Guide to Natural Beekeeping in Top Bar Hives" had a section on the subject. I'm having a hard time remembering on the second book.


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## cnt (Jun 8, 2013)

I've read the thinking beekeeper book. I read it mostly for topbar management practices, which was quite helpful to me. The rest of the book, which deals with generic beekeeping and general bee information is just okay IMO, but worth the read for topbar management, especially if you can find it at the library like I did.


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## BernhardHeuvel (Mar 13, 2013)

A recommendable book - both for general beekeeping and specifically for topbar hives, is this book: http://www.tbhsbywam.com

You can't beat good ol' practical experience.


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## AugustC (Aug 7, 2013)

BernhardHeuvel said:


> A recommendable book - both for general beekeeping and specifically for topbar hives, is this book: http://www.tbhsbywam.com
> 
> You can't beat good ol' practical experience.


It may require you taking out a new mortgage on your house though 
The thinking beekeeper is a good "in-brief" for a starter. It doesn't go into too much detail. Other than that this forum and biobees forum is very good for advice.


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## BernhardHeuvel (Mar 13, 2013)

Beekeeping is expensive anyway. And: I reckon this book is worth 20-30 other books, so worth every single penny of it. At least if you seriously want to start TBH beekeeping.


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## fruitveggirl (Mar 8, 2013)

BernhardHeuvel said:


> Beekeeping is expensive anyway. And: I reckon this book is worth 20-30 other books, so worth every single penny of it. At least if you seriously want to start TBH beekeeping.


I completely agree -- with the assessment of beekeeping being expensive and the book. 

From a content perspective, Mangum's is the best TBH beekeeping book I've seen. It's not edited quite as well as Les Crowder's or Christy Hemenway's books (sometimes it's a bit rambly), but it's way more comprehensive than any other book out there. If I had to pick just one TBH book, this would be the one.

I will say this, though, before I had bees, I found the maintenance diagrams in Crowder's and Hemenway's books helpful because I'm a very visual person. (Crowder uses end entrances, Hemenway has middle entrances.) Mangum's book discusses management, but he doesn't have color-coded diagrams. 

This website is a fantastic place to learn as well.


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## AugustC (Aug 7, 2013)

true, true. I would love to have this book I hear the photos alone are worth the money. In the UK though the import costs for it are ridiculous. The whole thing works out to around $80. I did have a look around for it whilst I was in the US but I think it is only available from his website.
Didn't you do a "flick-through" of the book are youtube Bernhard?


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## fruitveggirl (Mar 8, 2013)

AugustC said:


> true, true. I would love to have this book I hear the photos alone are worth the money. In the UK though the import costs for it are ridiculous. The whole thing works out to around $80. I did have a look around for it whilst I was in the US but I think it is only available from his website.
> Didn't you do a "flick-through" of the book are youtube Bernhard?


Yikes! $80! That's twice the cost of the book. If you come back to the US, give me a buzz beforehand. We'll see what we can do to get you that book.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I love books and I'd get all three, Crowder, Hemenway, Magnum. In fact I DID get all three...


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## Colleen O. (Jun 5, 2012)

The Les Crowder book, "Top-bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health" is an excellent and affordable entry level top bar beekeeping book. It is a quick read and would tell you what you want to know about management. I have the Wyatt Mangum book too, but I found it more advanced and better suited to me once I got some experience. If I only had two top bar books those would be the two. In hindsight, if I only had one it would be the Mangum book.

I have the "Thinking Beekeeper" book too but didn't much care for it. I didn't like the "voice" it was written in.


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## F6Hawk (Mar 31, 2014)

Thanks for the advice, folkses. So books seem to be preferred over a particular thread/website, eh?


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## AugustC (Aug 7, 2013)

Books for foundation knowledge.
Forums for fine discrimination of situations.


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## fruitveggirl (Mar 8, 2013)

Definitely agree with AugustC. Books help you see the big picture. Forums are great for specific questions. 

With that said, OutOfABlueSky has an excellent series of videos on YouTube. Highly recommend checking them out.


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## msscha (Jan 4, 2014)

I have also found Phil Chandler's stuff to be quite accessible, similar to Hemenway, but different "voice" -- http://www.biobees.com/. The Barefoot Beekeeper is the book where he discusses TBHs; however, by his own admission, it is light on long-term management; he's writing that book now. It's also not printable (ebook), and I wish now that I'd bought all my books in hard copy instead of ebook formats. The only one I have in hard copy is Wyatt Magnum's (which is actually a delightful read!). I'm thinking that I will buy them all a second time.

However, of the 5 I've read that are either only about TBHs or have significant info on them (Bush, Chandler, Crowder, Hemenway, Magnum), Magnum's is the strongest on management. Crowder's diagrams are great, but maybe I'm visually challenged, because I couldn't translate those diagrams into anything sensible until after I'd built a hive. Most of them deal excellently with getting started, and Hemenway lays out a whole year plan. Like all things beekeeping-related, though, a lot of anybody's management plan depends on local climate. As I'm learning in my 9th week of beekeeping, a local human being who knew a lot about TBHs would be MUCH appreciated! The local inspector was kind, but not a TBH fan, so not someone I feel like I want to ask questions of. There's a local guy named Chappie who just published an editorial on mentoring in Bee Culture this month. While I don't agree with everything he says, he makes a very good point about having a second pair of experienced eyes. You've kept bees, so maybe it won't be such a learning curve for you, though!


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