# Let's talk about roofs



## PatBeek (Jan 13, 2012)

.

I have built about 10 top bar hives in the past, but someone is special-ordering two hives from me of which they want a more fancy
roof style than what I'm used to building.

I'd love to see photos and explanations of all of your various roof styles out there. I tried to do a search for roofs and I couldn't find a thread dedicated to only roofs.

Specifically, what the lady wants is this:

A slightly pitched roof with white wood shingles. In fact, she wants the entire outside painted white.

If anyone has any input on such a roof or other designs, it would be much, much appreciated.

.


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## treeWinder (May 3, 2013)

This is one of my 10 Bars, you could use similar and then nail on the wood shingles an paint them. Lowes and Home depot have the shingles/shakes. Angles on mine are 19 degrees.


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## Life is Good! (Feb 22, 2013)

As a female with a bum shoulder, I've built my tbh's to have a tilting roof. Meaning the roof doesn't come off entirely but the long side tilts up like a trestle table top (easier on the shoulder). 

The roof is made out of 2x2's with a 4" lag bolt through the top corner of the hive into and through the roof, so the roof pivots. The drawback to this design was that I did not plan adequately for the hinge - so in order to make it work, I had to cut a notch out of the rectangular end piece. I covered the roof in aluminum (what was on hand), but you could certainly use shingles (check the weight of that - I went super light so the unit didn't tip at all when open). 

It's dark here now, I'll get photos tomorrow morning and post them here....







This shows the notch on the right side of the end of the hive. 







This is the inside of the roof showing the structure of the unit. We used what was on hand.







This is the overall view. You can see the lag bolt on the right top corner. The bolt is on the inside of the hive and the nut is on the outside. Yes, the bees built burr comb on the bolt that I periodically have to scrape off. I should have recessed the bolt head, but feared for structure if I did that. 

Hope these images help someone else!


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## Montyb (May 27, 2013)

I built two tbh's with this roof. No shingles, white aluminum flashing over 1x12's


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## Colleen O. (Jun 5, 2012)

Crabbcatjohn posted a picture of a hive he used to sell that had a shingle roof on it. Check out his pic on the Venting Suggestions thread. Looks like cedar shake over boards.


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

Life is good. That is a nice good lookin roof. I like that design.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I like the idea of a hinged roof, but I like to be able to get to both sides of the hive when inspecting.


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## Life is Good! (Feb 22, 2013)

Marshmasterpat - I cannot take credit for the design. My TBH mentor found it somewhere on-line and I used his method of connecting the roof. Original design was apparently more complicated and he simplified it. I like that the roof goes completely to vertical, so it's completely out of the way during inspections. I also have the roof tilting towards the prevailing winds, which offers a bit of a wind-break during inspections. Not heaving a heavy roof off the hive surely saves my shoulder!

Shannonswyatt - I have windows along the entire side of the hive - both sides. So when I go to inspect, I start by looking into each window and viewing what's going on where that I might need to check out further. I take a note of where the comb I wish to inspect is in the hive and then I'm more prepared once I do start taking out bars. I found queen cups along an edge of a comb a few weeks back that way. No one was home, nor have the bees put anyone in the cups since....they're just sitting there along the edge!


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

Cool. I like having both sides open during an inspection, but that is just me. About every third inspection is with my wife and daughter, so I like having the room. 

I like light roofs. Last one was made with coraplast with stryofoam glued in to provide rigidity. Then just some wood on the ends and sides to give it strength. Very light. As long as it doesnt get blown off it should last a long time.


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

Our roofs are are peaked and hinge. We came up with a simple hinging design with a L-shaped slot at each end of the roof that slides over a bushing on each end of the hive body. This way it hinges, can be add/removed easily and doesn't require actual hinge hardware.
















Best,
Matt


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## DrDoorlock (Mar 5, 2013)

You can tell them that some of us just use old political signs on top of the top-bars. But I spend about $10 building my hives from pallet wood and other salvaged materials.


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## crabbcatjohn (May 5, 2013)

Colleen O. said:


> Crabbcatjohn posted a picture of a hive he used to sell that had a shingle roof on it. Check out his pic on the Venting Suggestions thread. Looks like cedar shake over boards.


I think you misunderstood Colleen, I still sell the cedar shingle roof hives on my website, i just don't sell the fancy hand painted ones.


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## Kofu (Jan 26, 2011)

Cacklewack said:


> Our roofs are are peaked and hinge. We came up with a simple hinging design with a L-shaped slot at each end of the roof that slides over a bushing on each end of the hive body. This way it hinges, can be add/removed easily and doesn't require actual hinge hardware.
> 
> View attachment 7129


That's really a fantastic idea! I'm halfway through building a new TBH and now browsing Beesource, wondering about roofs and ventilation etc.

I guess it balances there, with some careful construction. But I might add a chain or something to keep the roof from flopping over further (and pulling the hive with it?). I like that the roof is also removable.


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

shannonswyatt said:


> I like the idea of a hinged roof, but I like to be able to get to both sides of the hive when inspecting.


I got a bee thinking hive. The roof is double aluminum with a neoprene like material between...light, waterproof and I expect a reasonable r value. It has a lag bolt that fits in a notch so you can simply tilt it back or slide it forward an inch and lift it off. Works great. They show it on their site.


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## AugustC (Aug 7, 2013)

Here is how I pitch my roofs.

http://http://augustcottageapiary.wordpress.com/building-plans-for-a-topbar-hive/


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## Kofu (Jan 26, 2011)

AugustC said:


> Here is how I pitch my roofs.
> 
> http://augustcottageapiary.wordpress.com/building-plans-for-a-topbar-hive/ _<<== (link corrected from above.)_


That page has been my primary reference, especially for the step-by-step process, though I've looked at other plans as well. Thanks!

Here's another Beesource thread where I ask *if the space under the roof should be open to the outside*, especially considering that the bees that come up from below during inspection might want to be able to get down to the colony below, after the roof is closed.

I haven't built my roof yet (getting my bees for the TBH on Friday!), but according to your specs, the roof is closed to the outside, with 1/8" space around the sides and a solid roof. So I wonder, if that's true, do you brush the wandering bees off the bars (and chase out any that have got to the underside of the roof) ... or what?


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

I leave a little more room on mine. If not you will have to raise it up on the summer to keep the hive cool. a vent on the end (unless it is wide open) probably won't move enough air on top.


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## AugustC (Aug 7, 2013)

Kofu said:


> I haven't built my roof yet (getting my bees for the TBH on Friday!), but according to your specs, the roof is closed to the outside, with 1/8" space around the sides and a solid roof. So I wonder, if that's true, do you brush the wandering bees off the bars (and chase out any that have got to the underside of the roof) ... or what?


You would be surprised at how little space the bees (or wasps for that matter) require to get through. There isn't much chance of making the roof space bee proof without creating a receiving lip all the way around the roof frame. I really don't think it matters if the bees can get in there or not. The only thing I will say is it is VERY important to have all the top bars in place or wasps and robber bees can get into the roof and then often into the hive along the side of the follower board. 
I don't tend to have many (if any) bees left on the topbars after an inspection but if there are because I have eg cleared a comb of bees I gently brush them over the edge with some grass and they find their way to the entrance quite easily. Mostly I leave a small v gap between the follower board and the last bar and they head off down there.


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## Kofu (Jan 26, 2011)

I wonder if it makes better sense to leave the ends open, with an option to close them off in the winter for better insulation?

What sort of space attracts wasps? Open and large enough for their nest, and protected from the rain? And how do people deal with wasps that start a hive under the lid/roof? Can't just spray them with insecticide...


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

The only thing I find in there is spiders.


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

Here's one I made.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

How much does that sucker weigh! Do you get a lot of snow?


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## mdax (Apr 29, 2013)

Wow, some of you'all have some serious building skills.
I use roofing panels on Wyatt Mangum designed tbh's


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

Haha yeah it's substantial. it weighs maybe 20 Lbs. We tend to get a good amount of snow, not like some of you but wanted to make something of a swiss chalet style roof. It was a fun project and I think helped insulate the lid by creating a dead air space.


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## shannonswyatt (May 7, 2012)

Looks like it maybe too insulated right now based on the bearding on the front of the hive. Or you need to super that thing really bad.


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## VodoBaas1 (Mar 26, 2013)

That was a picture last year and yeah, I was away for two weeks and came back to that.


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

Of my 3 TBH's, 2 have an aluminum gabled roof and 1 has a coraplex one. I much prefer the aluminum ones, but they came in my kit from beeline apiaries so I don't know how easily they could be replicated. As it turns out, I didn't assemble the first aluminum one like they had intended. It was supposed to have 2 1x10's in the roof structure, but the directions were not real clear and it worked out even better to just install the end pieces. Had I put the wood on the top, it would have made it very heavy. (I used the 2 pieces to make another hive, so nothing wasted there).

They do have a little bit of twist in them, but they fit the hive snuggly (as you can see from the scrapped paint) so they don't blow off in high winds and I don't have any unsightly bricks on top of them (these are in my front yard). On one of them, I did add the middle support and had to nail thru the top, as you see in the pictures. But on the second one, I left that out (and that one has more of a twist to it when I take it off).

As I continue to add hives (and encourage friends and neighbors to add a beehive to their yard), I will continue to recommend this kit from Beeline.


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