# Kenyan Top Bar Hive, first hive!



## St.PeteBees (Nov 21, 2010)




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## St.PeteBees (Nov 21, 2010)

So what do you think? It was a lot of fun to build and turned our pretty nice. I set it on those blocks for picture purposes, I have to clean up the area and find some suitable legs. I may stick with the block unless I build some legs for it. It is made from pine, 3' long, 15" wide, 12" tall. It is based on Phillip Chandlers design, except we put in a Plexiglass window from an old fish tank. (Recycling!)The wire screen on the bottom is fairly large mesh, big enough for the bees to go through ( I used this wire screen to protect watermelon from rodents and as a lattice for snow peas, more recycling!). Will this be a problem? I think I will paint it white for temperature purposes as it can get toasty down here in the summer. 
Any and all comments are appreciated!


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

St.PeteBees,

Good looking hive! A few issues I see, however, that you'll probably want to fix prior to installing bees:

1) The plexiglass (perspex for our European friends) looks like it's on the outside of the hive rather than the inside. This will cause issues in the long run when the bees build their combs -- the combs will be built to fit in the cavity until it hits the plexi. This will make it VERY difficult to remove your combs without tearing them apart! I suggest moving it to the inside. 

2) The screen is very wide, as you said. I would swap it out with 1/8" screen. This will allow beetles, mites and other debris to fall through, but the bees will more easily be able to walk on it without falling through themselves. 

3) There is no floor. A lot of people are having issues installing bees in floorless hives only to find the bees abscond shortly thereafter, likely due to the fact that their cavity is wide open! I'd install a floor of some sort, possibly with hinges so that it can be opened later once the colony is established.

Good work!

Matt


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

I think it looks good however,I say the glass goes on the inside? 
If not they will fill the opening,also the wire is a bit big if you have more,I would just staple another piece, so that you reduce the size by 1/2
You don't want the bees to get through,If you where to keep it that way
other bees will invade them and make it impossible for the colony to protect itself.
I'm in Clearwater just joined Tampabay bee keepers its a nice club I reccomend it. I joined this month and don't know how many folks have KTBH's?
I also take a bee class at USF Tampa Botanical gardens where we just placed a colony from a Bird house to a KTBH, Are you buying bees or waiting on the winds? The bee keeper club has folks with both If you need anything like that.

Tom


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## LenInNorCal (Feb 28, 2009)

As mentioned, please rescreen the bottom with 1/8" material, either hardware cloth or window screening, although the latter is smaller than 1/8. Otherwise all the bees in the universe will rob your hive from the girls' hard work.
I also have no idea about Florida, the winds, the cold, or any part of the weather but I would consider putting some siding of some sort on the roof or the hive body just to shelter the top bars. There is a breeze way between the roof and the top bars as they sit on the hive body, and I would imagine that to be problematic. Critters, rain, wind and other things can and will go into that area. It need not be bullet proof but it will keep debris, dust, and other pestiferous things out a little bit. I would also drill two holes in the boards that hold the roof peak (BTW, very nice roof) and screen that off to keep pests out. One hole on each end, big enough for a cork to be put into. I do that and uncork it during the summer so a breeze will pass thought and keep the top bars cool, but in Winter I will cork them to keep wet and cold out of the top bar area. 
Oh, and as others have written, put the plexi on the inside.
If I were you I would build another with the same dimensions so you will be able to transfer bars from one to another. It is necessary to do real work and being able to have a place to put bars as you do so. It need not be so big, just enough to hold maybe five or six bars. It's called a "nuc" and can be used to breed queens or raise a new hive, or even catch a swarm. It is not important now but in the Spring it will be come a real good thing to have. And since Dad and Grandpa are helping.........
You may also consider a monitor board, which means you need to get a couple of pieces of scrap wood and, if you can, put a 1/4 or 3/8 groove down the middle of the wood and secure them both to the bottom of the hive. Each scrap or should be no wider than the hive and secured at each of the end, length wise, with the grooves facing towards the center of the hive. You can insert some cheap hardboard into the grooves so that the screened bottom will catch all the debris the girls make during their seasons. It really helps in analyzing what is going on inside the hive, it catches all the stuff the girls drop including mites, so you can take a mite count to see how heavy the infestation is, it will catch cappings to see if drones are being hatched, as well as other bees. In the hands of a fair beek it will be invaluable in what is going on in your hive, more so than just observing through the window and will not be as disruptive as opening the hive. There are a few minor other things it will help with but I've got to go. It is simple to make, easy to install and will help a ton.
Rather nice design and execution of same. Good work and well done!


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## B Reeves (Oct 2, 2009)

welcome,
I would agree about the size of screen it needs to be sized so the bees dont have to defend such a large area, and a 3/4 board under the holes on the side, it will make landing on that slope easier, get bees right now and feed sugar water, and make more equipment it will be easier with more hives, about three you can never have enough hives. You are ready. Step off the edge.
Bob


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## oldwalt (Nov 28, 2010)

Pete: An easy fix to the window problem is to take the window side of the hive apart and turn it around so that the plexlglass is in the inside....Then just push the bolts through from the other side.....


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

*Cacklewack I must have been making my post when you posted* :s
didn't mean to duplicate your post.

St.PeteBees
Let me know if you need bees I know one guy who may sell you a Nuc size colony. If you choose not to wait for spring.
I read the other post that said make another I agree ,also you can use the divider and make 2 colonies in that,till they start to fill it and then move one to the new box.
Can't wait to load mine up

Tommyt


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Do you have a picture of just the roof.. inside.. ends etc? I'm trying to find good ideas for a roof on a hive similar in design.


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## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

First of all, I'd say not to take all the input too hard. It can really be a downer when a lot of people start telling you to make changes to something you've worked hard at making.

That said, it is important to go through this now, and save heartache later. I assume thats why you asked. That's why we all ask - 

I would question the size of your comb guides. To me they're too deep, and you'll likely lose overall storage space because of it. The bees will likely build on the very lowest edge of it and build the comb down from there. So the space above it will be unused. I wouldn't make them any more than a half an inch to 3/4 from the top bar to the lower edge of your guide. 

Have fun with the learning curve. We're all in it, and if we weren't we'd probably look for something else to do.

Adam


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

adam, while i would probably trim them in about and inch on each side from the walls to make removal easier the bees actually built up and around the guides and make a real solid connection. Benefit of that is you can cut right along the bottom of the guide and they can restart with what isn't as easy to remove anyway (for crush/strain) 
like this.


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## St.PeteBees (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks for all the input everyone, I really appreciate it. I'm probably going to leave the top bars and see what happens. As for the window I will move it on the inside so I don't have to worry about it later. I will post some more pictures of the roof later. It basically has 3 pine peaks, two on the end and one dead center. The one in the center must have gotten pushed down when all the shingles were put on because now it doesn't lay flush with the top bar as you can see from picture. (I have to remove the center top bar in order for the roof to lay correctly) I will probably plane that peak in order to make it fit. The actual roof part is a piece of plywood, then a weatherproof rubber roof coating (used for flat roofs) and then some roofing shingles. It is somewhat heavy but will definitely be water proof and will not fly off. 

TommyT: I would love to find some bees now, everywhere I have looked are sold out until at least January, which is usually a little colder time for Florida compared to now (about 80 right now). There are plenty of bees still foraging around here on all the wild flowers so maybe they would be fine to start now. How much for the nuc? I have been looking at packages and found some for around 80 online (+75 or so for shipping) so I've trying to find some local people/clubs in which I may be able to find some a little cheaper. I would like to some Cordovan Italians or new world Carniolan preferably so if anyone has any they may want to get rid of just let me know.

Again, thank you all for your input I appreciate the fast and friendly responses.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Cool, sounds similar the idea i had for the roof i'm making. Might do some of that rubber sheet or normal tar paper then cedar slats instead of asphalt shingles though.


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## Jaseemtp (Nov 29, 2010)

I like the idea of using the shingles. I was thinkig of doing the same and wondered how it would look / work.


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

St.PeteBees said:


> TommyT: I would love to find some bees now, everywhere I have looked are sold out until at least January, which is usually a little colder time for Florida compared to now (about 80 right now). There are plenty of bees still foraging around here on all the wild flowers so maybe they would be fine to start now. How much for the nuc? I have been looking at packages and found some for around 80 online (+75 or so for shipping) so I've trying to find some local people/clubs in which I may be able to find some a little cheaper. I would like to some Cordovan Italians or new world Carniolan preferably so if anyone has any they may want to get rid of just let me know.
> 
> Again, thank you all for your input I appreciate the fast and friendly responses.


 I'll let you know as soon as someone calls. I asked a couple guys and I 
will PM you a number of a guy who raises Queens and I think he'll sell you a colony

Tommyt


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## St.PeteBees (Nov 21, 2010)

tommyt said:


> I'll let you know as soon as someone calls. I asked a couple guys and I
> will PM you a number of a guy who raises Queens and I think he'll sell you a colony
> 
> Tommyt


Thanks alot Tommyt, I appreciate the help.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

St pete I had my dad help me build the roof today (benefit of contractor/carpenter in the family) fairly similar to yours. low angle pitch.. but instead of making a middle pitch we did a 2x2 bar down the ridge of the roof for more stability. that way it is stable but doesnt hit the bars. 

He had some of that rubber sheeting too that i have to attach. What did you use for adhesive for rubber to plywood?


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## St.PeteBees (Nov 21, 2010)

Nice looking roof! I think I may need to either plane the middle truss or just replace it with something similar to yours. The roofing paper was just nailed into the plywood, no glue used.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Yea the middle beam is pretty easy to do. we took a 2x2 and trimmed off the corners matching the angle of the roof pitch. hmm no adhesive is interesting and certainly cheap and easier.


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## BaB (Nov 17, 2010)

Being a newbee myself I can't give any advice but will say it looks nice and good to see someone else doing the KTBH. I was starting to think I was the only one. Here are some pictures of my first hive and after reading some of the post on yours I see I have a change or two to make. Good Luck.
PS
I live in Fort Myers for 15 years moved back to Indiana 6 years ago.

http://s1090.photobucket.com/albums/i373/MRTMEA/


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

St Pete 
Check your PM's 


Tommyt


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