# Anyone keeping 3' top bar hive?



## Txboi83 (Nov 4, 2011)

Is there anyone on here that is keeping a 3' top bar hive? What are your experience with them? I know a lot of people keep 4' ones but I'm looking to hear from people who keep 3' ones or has kept 3' ones. 

Thanks in advance


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## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

I started this season with a 3' TBH, but then a tree fell onto it. I had to transfer to a 4'. I fully intended on building a 4', but the guy I got the lumber from didn't follow my instructions. 

I plan on eventually putting bees into it, and essentially using it as a hive for splitting. Or possibly even queen rearing. Either way I am not counting on it for a huge amount of honey production.

Doesn't really answer your question though.


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## Teabag (Feb 10, 2011)

I have run two 3ft hives for a couple of years now. I think generally in the UK our colonys tend to be smaller than in the US. Therefore, the problem of them expanding and running out of room in a 3ft hive has not been a problem for me. Having said that, others will tell you they have switched to 4ft hives as it allows more room for ease of inspection and management. My reason for using 3ft hives is simply down to space in my back yard. I can get two 3ft hives on the hard standing available to me but do not have space for the 4ft hives. If space is not a problem, I would go for the 4ft hive.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I have one, but i've only had it this year so I can't really form a valid opinion yet. It built up, it filled up with comb - mostly staight - it probably swarmed, it still survives.


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## Txboi83 (Nov 4, 2011)

Thanks for the input i really thankful for it. I guess I'll give it a try and see if I have problems with it I'll switch over to a 4' hive if anyone else has some input I would love to hear what you have to say


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## Daddy'sBees (Jul 1, 2010)

A 3ft TBH may work for you. It depends on your size of bee colony(breed), your area blooms, etc. Where I live it might work as our blooming seasons are short in length due to drought and heat. I have one 42 " and the others are 4 ft KTBH. Neither type can fill up the hive box during the year as a newly installed 3 lb package. Elsewhere they can be easily filled.


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## Txboi83 (Nov 4, 2011)

Thanks daddy bees I live in Dallas and we've been having a really bad drought as well but I've heard if you live in the city that there are more sources of nectar do to people's gardens I don't really know how big dripping springs is but I do know it's somewhere around Austin but I've heard if you don't allow the hive to fill up by harvesting the honey that their less inclined to swarm does anyone know if that is true?


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## Daddy'sBees (Jul 1, 2010)

Over crowding leads to swarming. If need be, you can pull some bars loaded with honey, freeze them for 24 hrs., and then store them to return to the hive when needed this winter. This allows your brood hive to get a little larger w/o crowding.


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## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

If you haven't built your hives yet I would suggest that you build a 4' hive. If you have the resources to build a 4' hive instead of a 3' hive you will not regret it. There is no real good reason to build a 3' hive other than space requirements, but I assume you don't have that issue. By building a 3' hive you are reducing your available space. You will likely find yourself wanting the 4' hive and it's better to just do it right away than having to build another hive.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

BTW, length is only one dimension - a long skinny hive may have less room than a short fat one. Mine has 19" bars and is about 10-12" deep. The 19" bars can go between the TBH and a lang hive to a certain degree. That's how I started this hive - got 5-6 combs started in lang hives and then moved them to the TBH along with a new queen.


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## Txboi83 (Nov 4, 2011)

David how many bars does your hive have? Mine has 24 at 17" long and nine inchs deep I hope that's big enough because I spent $275 on it and would really hate having to shell out more money even though I'm thinking about get a warre hive.


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## Mtedcarr4 (May 20, 2010)

My preference is for 4' hives Actually the roof is 4' , the hive is more 46"


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Mine has about 24 bars too, but even though it's a good bit bigger than yours in volume - who's to say what is "best?" It's going to depend on a lot of factors - including what you do, and what you hope to get out of it.


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## Txboi83 (Nov 4, 2011)

I was hoping to get some honey at least enough for me and my family. I'm not look for just to tons of honey maybe like a bar or two.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Should be doable - if every year isn't a drought.


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## Txboi83 (Nov 4, 2011)

That's true we have been having a bad drought even though it's been worse down where you are hopefully it will begetter next year


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## Marsh (Aug 17, 2010)

I have two 4 foot Top Bar Hives and one 38 inch TBH, which I started this Spring. I used Russian Hybrid bees and all hives did very well. The 38 inch hive filled most of the Top Bars and I expect it to survive this winter. I think a 3 foot hive is plenty of room for most hives. My hives are built using the Golden Mean measurements, which is what I recommend for size.


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## NY_BLUES (May 14, 2009)

I built 2 3' hives a few years ago. I use them as swarm traps now, as I found that they are a bit to small for a large colony. I put a nice swarm (Probably around 6 pounds) in a 3' hive, and within 2 weeks found they had built about 80% of the frames out. My 3' hives have 19" top bars, so they are interchangable with langs, and I just transfered them to langs and added another box on top with foundation. In my expierence the 3' mark is a little small, but you could either top super or take combs and harvest the honey and return empty bars back to the hive.


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys

I've run a few 3' tbhs. But then my hives have a larger volume than most.

Some thoughts on hive design volume here:

http://beenatural.wordpress.com/top-bar-hives/tbhdesign/hive-body/


Regards - Dennis


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