# TBH Inspection Tip: The "Bee-Down Strip"



## madasafish (Aug 24, 2010)

I have two TBHs - started this year. Same problem: same solution: I use a turkey feather which is from the tail of a male - about 18inches long. It's also fairly rigid 

Works perfectly.

I leave one feather in each hive above the topbars ready for immediate use and since our male is moulting and has lost all his tail feathers I have about 15 as back-up....

I imagine goose tail feathers would work ...


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

What a neat solution. I've added bee-down strips as a necessary addition to my tbh toolbox. It's a gem of an idea and I included it on my blog and web pages at:

http://beenatural.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/rileys-top-bar-hive-bee-down-strip/

Thanks for the idea, the find, and for sharing.

Regards - Dennis
Thinking of turkeys. Still wish I could keep a few.


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

Definitely a good idea I'll keep in mind next time a customer asks. Personally, I've haven't found it terribly difficult to get the bars back together using the bump/scissor technique, but I'll give this a try tomorrow as I inspect!

Cheers,
Matt


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## earthchild (Jun 30, 2009)

Awesome suggestion! I'm looking forward to cutting down my inspection time.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Thanks. I don't have top bar hives, but I do have a few top bars that have found their way into my langs - and cause more or less the same issue. A turkey wing feather is already in my tool box in lieu of a brush.


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

Bump! This might be helpful to new TBH folks....


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## blist (Jun 15, 2010)

I need to get around to making something similar myself, I just use the bounce technique as someone else mentioned, it can take a while.


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## heatherbee (May 10, 2011)

Great idea, the squishing problem was deterring me from doing a thorough inspection (along with mother nature). I'll give this a try! Thank you for posting


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

My "bee down strip" is a stainless steel woodworking ruler that is about as long as my top bars are. I think I got it from Menards/Lowes/Home Depot. It is light weight, thin enough for the purpose, and easy to clean. It is a little taller than my bars so it is easy to grasp and remove once the bars are closed up around the ruler. The best part is that I didn't have to make it. 

How I use it -- when the gap between a pair of bars is down to about one bee space, more or less, I close one end of the gap so it is just wide enough for the bee-down strip. I slip the ruler into that narrow gap and rest it on that side of the hive. That that part of the gap will now be bee free, so I only have to focus on bee heads and butts along the other end of the gap, not the whole thing. I gently lower the other end of the ruler down between the bars until it too is resting on the side of the hive. Close up that end of the gap, slip the ruler out, then finish closing up.

With practice, I have found I can hold the ruler ready for use with my ring and little fingers as I move the bars with my thumb, index, and middle fingers. Works pretty slick.


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

thanks for the tip. I started a top bar this year and was wondering how to solve that problem just yesterday


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

I find this to be especially useful if the bees get agitated and really start coming up between the bars - usually toward the end of an inspection. The rest of the time, just gently scissoring the bars patiently will get them down.

But once it gets hot (in temperature and temperament for both you and the bees) the strip works wonders. If you have spacers between bars, they might serve the same purpose when putting things back together.

Adam


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

I use a strip cut from an old corrugated plastic election yard poster. It's just the right width. He was a Republican, so those little socialist bees scoot right away from it.


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

How bout a puff or 3 of smoke

I do like your tool Idea also

Tommyt


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

Tommyt -- the bee-down strip works exactly right where you need the help. Smoke is more general. I don't always use a bee-down strip, but I do keep it and my smoker close by, so they are ready for use if I do need either one.


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

Sort of off topic, but I've been wondering about this-- I just stopped using smoke on my TBH inspections a month or two ago, particularly once I read about the bee-down idea, probably from this thread. I don't even bring the smoker out any more (yes, I may reconsider this in the fall). They just don't seem to mind the inspections much except at the very end, when I've been going a long time and have worked my way to the last few combs by the end entrance. I think the guard bees don't notice what's happening in the back, and since I never directly disrupt more than one comb, there's no mass panic effect like with pulling the top off a Langstroth. They do seem to get pretty clear about wanting to fan the smoke out, which of course puts them in the way of putting the bars together again.


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

My experiences have been similar to yours, although I have noticed varying degrees of defensiveness with my bees. 

There are things I do that trigger their defensiveness. The bees get upset quicker if I smash bees between the bars (getting much better about not doing that, esp if I use the bee-down strip) or if I have to tidy and straighten comb. Like yours, they get cranky if I take too long, even if I'm just looking, so I've been developing my skills of working smoothly and efficiently, so I can get in and out of the hive quicker. 

Some days they are simply more defensive than others. I wouldn't call them "hot" by any means -- no head butting, no mass attack, nothing like that. Just quicker to complain and fly in an annoyed cloud above the hive and in front of my veil. Last inspection, they were as calm and mellow as I've ever seen them, but other days I've almost immediately gotten an alarmed "roar" and a solid row of suspicious bee heads emerging from between the bars. 

Since I never know what their mood will be, I always light my smoker and keep it handy. I don't usually put much, if any, smoke between the bars directly in the hive -- I agree that does seem to cause them to boil up from between the bars. I sometimes lightly smoke the entrance if I think they are going to be more defensive, but I use it the most in the air above the bars in a light fog whenever a cloud of guard bees begin to fly. This does seem to discourage all but the most determined guards, unless I've worked too long and the bees have simply had enough. Then nothing discourages them -- but I can't blame them for that! I take that as a clear sign that I need to close up and let them alone.


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## rmaro (Feb 22, 2011)

I have found that if I hold the bar just above the postion that it is to rest in and the slowly lower it down it pushes the bees down gently and you are left with a bar in place.


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## kaydee (Apr 20, 2011)

i use a small spray of light sugar water to clear space between bars. they go down and i close up space.
i don't like to squish them-hearing that crunch- and i'm sure it agitates the others.
also, i noticed some days they are calmer than others.


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

When they're relatively agreeable, it's not too bad getting them down. It's when you've got them upset that it really helps a lot. There are occasions where I've gone through the entire hive, end-to-end on a hot day, and scratched some drone brood along the way. By the time I'm putting it back together, I'm sweating like crazy and the bees are short on patience. At that point, they really start coming up and are reluctant to go down. At times like that, having some sort of bee-down strip is pretty useful.

But if you don't find you need it - then of course simpler is better. Just keep it in mind.

Adam


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## Peaches (Jun 8, 2011)

I know the mechanics of the TBH, but I wonder if the top bars could be spaced like the Langs with the side bars. The bees would have a way to get back down between the top bars. Would that work or do the TB have to be shoulder to shoulder?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If they aren't "shoulder to shoulder" then you have the problem of them getting squished on TOP of the bars unless you add some space above. It just get's more complicated... plus many people have a TBH because less bees are exposed and less bees get in the air which they find less intimidating.


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## Peaches (Jun 8, 2011)

Thanks Michael. It makes sense to me.


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## Montana Bee (Feb 1, 2011)

In an earlier post someone said "How about a puff or three of smoke". I am a new beek and have two TBH's and I struggled with the problem of squishing bees when putting top bars back together. I resorted to using smoke which I hated to do because my bees are very gentle. I have gotten to the point that I do not use smoke anymore so this "Bee-down strip" is a perfect solution to the problem. I also dust my hands with baby powder before working with the bees and I have not been stung. I'm not sure why it works but the girls seem to stay off my hands. One exception to this rule is if I have to reach into the hive to remove a piece of honeycomb that fell off the top bar. The girls have a limit to their patience when it comes to taking away their honey!


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

I have two tools in my bucket for reaching deep into a hive especially if room is tight or the bees have had enough of me. One is a cake decorator's spatula with an offset handle. This also works well to cut comb attachments on the sides of the hive. The other is a restaurant tongs stolen from my kitchen. Get both of 'em as long as you can find.

Tongs: http://tinyurl.com/3v8ynnx
Spatula: http://tinyurl.com/3f9q7o5


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>The girls have a limit to their patience when it comes to taking away their honey! 

I think it's just that hand in side the hive. They don't tolerate ants, wax moths and ****roaches and your hand is much larger. I don't think they think in terms of you taking their honey, just something foreign moving through the hive.


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## Jim Given (Mar 15, 2012)

Bump....this helped me greatly.

Jim


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## b haley (Mar 1, 2012)

I have been living in the stone age with sticks and long grass to this point. A "bee-down strip" is just what I need :applause:. I also like the feather idea.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

First off, I think this is a great idea. My only concern - and I'm sure you all can reassure me - is that when you pull the bee-down strip back up, how do you know legs, etc, aren't hanging on to it and get crushed between the strip and the top bar? I suppose it's just done slowly and carefully and it's not a tight enough space to trap a leg?


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