# Money-is-a bit-short-and-wife-has-me-on-short-leash top-bar build



## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)




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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

PatBeek said:


> This has to be the ugliest slammed-together piece-of-junk ever displayed on the forums, but I have the utmost confidence it's going to work fantastically.


The bees certainly don't care what it looks like! But I have to say that your earlier post on the cardboard (not even waxed cardboard) trap is even junkier than this one. 

The bees _may_ care what it smells like, however. See if you can come up with some lemongrass oil to make the box smell like "home".


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

.

Here's my nice top-bar hive that my neighbor and I built a few months ago with his nice shop. It's the "Golden Mean" from Corwin Bell's plans:


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> The bees certainly don't care what it looks like! But I have to say that your earlier post on the cardboard (not even waxed cardboard) trap is even junkier than this one.
> 
> The bees _may_ care what it smells like, however. See if you can come up with some lemongrass oil to make the box smell like "home".


Agree 100%, and thanks.

I already have some lemongrass oil and old comb awaiting. 

By the way, it's a tad large and/or cumbersome (seemingly) to be mounted up in a tree for a bait hive in a wooded area near my home. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can mount this monstrosity without having to hire labor to help get it up and down?

Pullies? A Crane?

As I mentioned before, it was originally intended to be a bait hive for a tree, but I may have made it too big. And it's almost too small to be a permanent top bar hive. 

.


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## GeeBee (Apr 11, 2011)

are you sure it's a leash? Looks more like she has you on a choke chain! lol That has got to be the coolest hive I've ever seen. Any port in a storm, eh? Hope it works out for you!


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

GeeBee said:


> are you sure it's a leash? Looks more like she has you on a choke chain! lol That has got to be the coolest hive I've ever seen. Any port in a storm, eh? Hope it works out for you!


Surely you're talking about the blue hive of mine being the coolest hive you've ever seen, right?

It couldn't possibly be you were referring to the train-wreck.

Thanks either way.

By the way, I got to thinking last night about a pulley system for my train-wreck hive to be hoisted up in a tree. Then perhaps two more tied-off ropes at the bottom to stabilize any blowing/swinging action. It would be much easier to mount pullies in a tree than that hive. Oh yeah, I forgot - I'll have to get permission from my leash-holder in order to obtain the pullies/ropes.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

I like it!


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## dixiebooks (Jun 21, 2010)

Why not just set it up on an upended trash can or barrel? Traps don't necessarily have to be 40 feet up in the air. -james


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## Steven Ogborn (Jun 3, 2011)

A short leash or no funds and fancy tools are what spawned top bar hive beekeeping.
Good job.


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## Merlinspop (Nov 4, 2010)

Call around to some exterminators and get on they're list for swarms.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Merlinspop said:


> Call around to some exterminators and get on they're list for swarms.


I'll try that again.

It seems I tried that about a year ago to see what my options would be to get into all of this, but it seemed there was confusion and silence on the other end of the line when I inquired about it. I don't exactly live in the most progressive county regarding bees. They were probably thinking, "you don't want to kill those bugs?"


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

Steven Ogborn said:


> A short leash or no funds and fancy tools are what spawned top bar hive beekeeping.
> Good job.


Thanks, sir.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

dixiebooks said:


> Why not just set it up on an upended trash can or barrel? Traps don't necessarily have to be 40 feet up in the air. -james


I did just that for now.

Right now it sits atop a blue 55 gal drum right next to my screened-in porch.

I may just leave it there and be done with it.

HOWEVER, I may want to use that barrel soon for this:

http://www.velacreations.com/honeycow.html


http://www.flickr.com/photos/velacreations/sets/72157622528453587/


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## jonlorusso (Apr 25, 2011)

Any idea how well this would work in the north? I happen to have an unused barrel just like this, but I'm not sure how well it would insulate against the cold.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

jonlorusso said:


> Any idea how well this would work in the north? I happen to have an unused barrel just like this, but I'm not sure how well it would insulate against the cold.


I've seen Corwin Bell wrap his hives in Colorado with insulation placed in plastic bags:
*
Winterizing Your Top Bar Hive for the Colder Months*


http://www.backyardhive.com/Articles_on_Beekeeping/Featured_article/Insulating_Your_Hive/


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## jonlorusso (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks for the link Pat.

I found this bit really interesting:



> "We recommend feeding the bees honey instead of sugar syrup or sugar water, as sugar is not a natural food for the bees. If your hive is in its first year you can use store bought honey, but ideally you would want to use honey you have collected from that hive."


I guess he finds the benefits of feeding honey (even store bought honey) outweigh the potential risks of disease, etc.?


Also on that page, he mentions the reference point of Boulder, CO. Living in NJ, I always assumed Boulder was -cold-, but never really cared enough to know exactly how cold. I found this tool from weather.com:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/vacationplanner/compare


Apparently, it's 2 degrees colder on average where I live than in Boulder, CO. Perhaps I will think about insulating this winter.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

>I guess he finds the benefits of feeding honey (even store bought honey) outweigh the potential risks of disease, etc.?

When I first lost all my bees to mites in 1995 I fed six new packages my honey - they all got American foulbrood and had to be destroyed. Last year I fed solar honey and hives got European Foulbrood. To help them recover I medicated with Terramycin patties and fed Prosweet and most have recovered nicely. Many organic teachings can make you feel warm and fuzzy but are not based on true life experience.


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## jonlorusso (Apr 25, 2011)

> Many organic teachings can make you feel warm and fuzzy but are not based on true life experience.


My intention was not to endorse Corwin Bell's advice, but simply to point out that I had quite literally never heard anyone recommend this before, "organic" or not.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

jonlorusso said:


> > I had quite literally never heard anyone recommend this before, "organic" or not.


Dee Lusby strongly forbids feeding anything but honey. She is the founder of the small cell movement and leader of the Yahoo Organic Beekeeping message group.


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## Steven Ogborn (Jun 3, 2011)

Dee..... lives in a dry climate......this helps against the foulbroods and dopes associated with?


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## dixiebooks (Jun 21, 2010)

PatBeek said:


> I did just that for now.
> 
> Right now it sits atop a blue 55 gal drum right next to my screened-in porch.
> 
> ...


That is pretty cool. Never had much interest in top bar hives but this does give me something to do with those barrels.  -james


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

dixiebooks said:


> That is pretty cool. Never had much interest in top bar hives but this does give me something to do with those barrels.  -james


It's your lucky day because a gentleman who built one chimed-in on the following thread that's dedicated to the barrel hives. 

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...-top-bar-hives-using-barrel-halves-on-youtube

I started my barrel hive, by the way. I already sawed one in half.



.


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## mrobinson (Jan 20, 2012)

My two hives cost $44 (USD) total ... and that was for half a sheet of plywood (for part of one roof) and four drawer-pulls. (I could have put them together for no dollars at all.) 

I do have a table saw and a drill press, which helped. The wood is old stuff that's been outside or in a barn for decades.

After all, the only thing that bees really need is a _box..._ an enclosure. They'd be just as happy ... (maybe more so?) ... in the walls of a barn, or fifteen feet up in the trunk of a tree. If you can make the thing from "old" wood that's fine, but I've seen a set of plans that's cut from a single 4x8' sheet of plywood. If the hive is dry, and has no gaps, and if it has the sloped sides (that do appear to be important), and the bars fit well, then these appear to be the only actual requirements. Mine are sitting on four cinder blocks. I've got no idea yet whether my TBH experience will be successful, but I basically tossed most "rules" out the window.


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## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

That ugly hive I threw together is being used as a bait hive and it's got some bees HEAVILY interested.

All that's in it is some old comb attached to about 2 or 3 top bars with hair clips, beeswax on the top bars on twine, and some lemongrass oil.

Check out all the activity....and a short panoramic view of my backyard and other hives:


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