# Top bar hive better for bees?



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

I enjoy my top bar hives but I've never run a Warre hive. I can't do any lifting of boxes, so the TBH suites me. They seem to "grow" bees. Doing lots of splits when other traditional beekeepers in my area were losing bees to the cold weather. More pictures on my bees facebook page if you are interested. (link below)


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Bees like a cavity that they can hang comb from. if you watch peoples videos of cutouts and stuff they will pretty much put a hive anywhere.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I am a new beekeeper and was wondering which kind of beehive the bees like best?

Well I've seen them about everything that made a hollow space from coolers to dried up gasoline tanks to soffits and walls. Bees don't care that much. Their preferences are about things like cavity size and entrance size and height off the ground...

https://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/2653/2/Bait Hives for Honey Bees.pdf


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## Crispin Jackson (May 11, 2015)

ive done thousands of hours of experimentation with hive design and i am certain that bees prefer a horizontal cavity to a vertically aligned one. the primary reason for that (but not the only reason) being the need to keep brood temperature constant and normally at a higher temp to the ambient air. That causes the warmed air around a brrod chamber to be boyant and thus have a tendancy to rise and thus the bees prefer to solid roof above their brood chamber so they do not loose the warmed air. It wopuld also appear easier for bees to move air latterally rather than vertically and this has relivance to bees evaporating nectar, the easier and quicker they can remove humid air from a hive (latterally) the quicker and easier they can evaporate and ripen it into honey.

Bees will use virtually any cavity to have a hive in, but generally they create a hemispher shaped cluster in relation to the shape of cavity they have to work in. You will also always find brood closest to the entrance of a hive and honey stored behind the brood chamber (or more simply put as far from the entrance as possible)


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## gjt (Jul 24, 2014)

Do you happen to have your work documented?


Crispin Jackson said:


> ive done thousands of hours of experimentation with hive design and [...]


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## Crispin Jackson (May 11, 2015)

gjt said:


> Do you happen to have your work documented?


i did document a number of the experiments, specifically related to the internal microclimate of hives with different materials used. But most of those experiments were conducted by Pretoria University using various students and they have the works. Ive moved from South Africa in the past few years and regretably lost my father whom was the con inventor with me. i can see what papers we still have recorded if you like, or else give you insights into our findings if you have specific questions.

as a beekeeper most of my work was related to proving our own hypothesis in order to over come various issues with hive deseign or test theories as they arrose. If we there was specific research to be done we contacted Pretoria or WITS university in SA to conduct those for us.


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## SowthEfrikan (Mar 2, 2015)

Hive design? If interested in that you probably have followed Flow (hush, don't talk about it here on this thread, there is a thread that is extractorless honey, or somesuch, in the equipment forum, would love to have your opinion there). I get you contacting Pretoria but from what I have heard Wits has become pretty useless over the years. Such a pity, it was world-class.

I agree with gjt. I would love to read some of the work if you can point us to it. If you get a mo' to do that, it would be hugely appreciated.


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## gjt (Jul 24, 2014)

Thank you.

My primary interest is in horizontal hives, not necessarily just top bar hives. I am interested in history, designs; temperature, pollen, honey, brood & drone cell distribution and movement over time, where time is seasons, days and such. In essence, everything


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## Crispin Jackson (May 11, 2015)

then we should chat 

send me an email address and let me send you the basics on the hive deseigns we did, it will fill you into the broad strokes of the JHH and i can give more concrete reasoning behind the ideas if you want at alater date.


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## ulimann (Feb 17, 2015)

hey this sounds interesting I just built 4 deep horizontal hives loosely based on lazutin hive and I'd be more then interested in your research as far as size and ventilation and where to position vents etc. uli


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

> I am interested in history

Look for "ideal hive", "long ideal hive", "O.O. Poppleton", "Dartington hive", "Dartington long deep", "chest hive", "coffin hive", "horizontal hive", "long hive", "Jackson Horizontal Hive", "JHH", "trough hive", "traditional hive", "troughhive", "trughive"


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## gjt (Jul 24, 2014)

Thank you! I have some of this but any bit helps my thirst. I am right now digging for older stuff like log hives I seen from Africa, hives built into walls in Asia, and central and eastern European hives.

The Jackson horizontal hives remind me of the Boczonádi hives I grew up with.



Michael Bush said:


> > I am interested in history
> 
> Look for "ideal hive", "long ideal hive", "O.O. Poppleton", "Dartington hive", "Dartington long deep", "chest hive", "coffin hive", "horizontal hive", "long hive", "Jackson Horizontal Hive", "JHH", "trough hive", "traditional hive", "troughhive", "trughive"


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Every hive design has it's devotees, each with their own reasons, proofs, and varying degrees of loyalty / fanaticism.

Me, the reason for my choice is bees provide my income. So I go with a hive designed to allow the bees to reach their full productive potential in the easiest way for them.


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