Wow,this is the most detailed video on Top bar bee hive DIY ever.Thank you and hey is there a video 2 for the top cover ? I guess I need to make my bee hive and share so that you see the power of your teaching .Salute from 🇿🇲 Zambia
Got into chickens this year... Going to get into Bees this year as well. Love the detailed walkthrough on how to build these! Thanks for the "Free" plans. Too many ppl on YT or the Net "SAY" free plans, but then end up wanting to charge you for them. You've definitely earned my Sub with this "very old" (in internet terms) video! Thanks again, from a Disabled Vet in TN.
Excellent presentation. Appreciate the use of the 'finished' part as an aid to understanding the part being fabricated in each step. Thank you for sharing.
I built a topbar hive about 8 years ago.....bees are going into it next week 😂 long time coming. I have a small viewing window which is perspex and counter sunk internally so it's flush with the surface of the sides so there will be no issues if comb is attached to it. It's only a small window as I wanted it to be dark inside for the bees just enough so I can peek 😉 and I constructed mine with untreated pine so no chemicals, all I did was coat in linseed oil. Well it only ever had one coat I'm ashamed to say but amazed how well it's held up, no rot at all. The very bottom of the legs look a little weathered, but impressed. It had a fresh coat of oil a couple of weeks ago in preparation. Great vid btw.
Jon, just wanted to say thank you. I built my hive per your directions, and it's beautiful! I didn't want to join boards so mine is only 10.5" deep, but it's 46" long to help compensate. Just a few trig calcs and I had the right numbers to maintain the angles. Again, thanks so much!
Great video! My brother-in-law has been into beekeeping for many years and we started talking about TB hives some time ago, this video is really helpful and explains the build process very clearly. Thanks for posting. Best wishes from Sweden!
Jon,saludos desde España (Europa). Aunque no entiendo el ingles me ha resultado muy ameno por que al mismo tiempo que hablas trabajas con lo que no se hace aburrido.Quiero hacerme una tbh y tu lección me ha resultado sumamente esclarecedora. Muy agradecido maestro.
Well John: I have pretty basic woodworking skills and bunch of Ryobi hand tools. So I followed your directions step by step and managed to put a top hive together. Really, really happy with it. The lid is very heavy, though and I think it would be too risky to mount it on hinges due to high winds where I live so I put a couple of handles on the roof for lifting. Could not have done it without you. Cheers! Oh! Also used your lid design for the garbage box. Not quite so heavy though so it has hinges and will hopefully keep the bears out.
Hi Jon, I finished my 1st bee hive according to your plans, but made one small change, a periscope entrance by Phil Chandler. We get a lot of wind here and this entrance will keep out the draft. Every time someone comes by there is a new project they have never seen before. Working on 2nd hive in between building gypsy trailer. Beautiful design.
Hi Jon, Your videos are very well done as well as the craftsmanship. I would really consider using top entrances in your hive to ensure adequate ventilation this coming winter to prevent another hive loss.
@@ostrich3335 Hi, I did not get a chance to build that one hive described above. Here on our Oahu farm, we been been busy w bees, trees n figuring out how navigate this new economy.
Jon this is an outstanding video. You did an excellent job in making this easy to understand and follow along with. I have been searching for a long while now for a good how-to vid on making a top bar hive. My friend you hit this one out of the park. Thank you....Btw, I suffer from a couple different vision issues, one being that I am colorblind and I don't have any depth perception nor do I see in 3D. Your video here is EXACTLY what I have needed and I look forward to seeing your next one. From you I can learn things others have fallen short on. Many thanks to you for your time, effort and expertise.
Cheers for this, I have been researching "build a beehive uk" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Ever heard of - Tiyia Beehive Basophilic - (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my cousin got excellent success with it.
That vent space on the bottom door is just inviting Small Hive Beetles to come in in droves. Not sure where you are, but in Florida that would be full of SHB in no time. They can get through #8 screen wire. The only way a screened bottom here works is with an oil trap below.
Hey Jon, you got me hooked on using poplar after I built a blanket chest using your plans... it is so easy to work with. Now you introduced thermally modified poplar... which I assume means 'baked'. I haven't seen any of this stuff at the big stores... have you seen anyone bake their own poplar? I love the color of the thermally modified poplar used on the hive and that the dark color seems to go all the way through the wood...
Late to the party, but excellent video. Do you glue boards together to get the 12-3/4" dimension? Can you use a 1"x12" from the hardware store, having the actual dimension be 11-1/2"? Sorry if you explained this in the video. Edited again, to apologize... You explained it in the video and looking closer, I can see the joints. Well done.
Hello from Portugal. Nice professional job. But in Portugal we put a back glass window covered. We can see the bees with less disturb in the colonie. Only make intervention if we need too. Sorry my english...is too bad. :-( but im from portugal. Hugs
Good job, tha k you. Im no woodworker, i just want to build a hive. I thought id offer this because i see you want to help people... You might consider taking that first one back apart in front of the camera (students) and laying it out spread eagle as yougo, maybe show what the important features are. Then pick up each piece and show how you make it. When you put it back, there are two... It would help me stay oriented better to which piece you are on and what each measurement you make is about.
Hi Jon, I take this from a french man who leave few years en Africa . African Bees seems not attached wax when they have 110 or 115 ° but in France with the apis melifera melifera from Here we have some problems... I try since a year with 120° and no problem with that. Perhaps it depends of the bees... (Sorry for my poor english !!)
I know you are pretty good with the free-handing circular saw, but any thoughts on making a simple table saw sled? You could ensure that the cuts are all perfect that way, just a thought.
Hi Jon, nice hives, I have a question, on Langstroth hives you have a section where the queen lays eggs and is separated with the honey manufacturing .. I assume you do the same thing just longitudinal ... ? Thanks, Jason
Jon, found your video and subscribed to your channel. Most excellent construction, explanation, etc. I saw a top bar building video where the top was hinged on the side instead of the end as yours is. Do you think that matters? Thanks and you are the current "Norm" in my opinion.
Thanks Marc, no I think either way will work As long as you can get to the bars. I’ve stopped using a top bar hive because I didn’t have much success. I now know a little more about beekeeping and plan to try the top bar again next year.
I was pleasantly surprised @ 2:45 to see you wearing a respirator. Looks like a 3M half-face mask with NIOSH rated HEPA 100 (pink or purple) particulate filters. Unfortunately, it is not a commonly known fact that saw dust is a carcinogen. If you see something floating around in the air, that is only 20% of what you are inhaling with another 80% which is so small you cannot see.
Great video Jon! Do the plans show the adjustment you made with the shim to the roof cleat or should I make it 1 1/4" instead of the 1" listed. Thanks!
Hi Jon! I've used your plans recently and now I'm a big fan! I'm now writing a paper for school on this and am giving you full credit. I'm rewatching, and am for some reason just noticing you made two follower boards for one hive? Why is that? I only made one.. What is the second one for? Thanks! Andrea
Hello sir. Is it possible to make this hive with measurements that i like or do i have to take your measurements? Do other measurements have a bad influence on the bees' behaviour or doesn't the size or comb drawing space matter? Thanks.
Hi Jon, Great video and good explain, but I've a question : do you respect a 120° degrees between the floor and the sides ? I began with a TBH this year in april with a 120° and 24 cm deep ! wich wood do you use to make it. I've used DOUGLAS Thx for sharing...
+Yves Bodin I see a lot of requests on this 120 degree question in here. Where is this information of 120 degrees located. It's not in my book & I want to make sure I read on this before starting my build. Thanks
Hi, i love this design but my only question is how do you keep the queen bee seperate from your honey so that she doesnt lay eggs in your honey producing part of the hive?
Hey, great video got all my ideas from this all I did was just Change a few lengths just to suit the wood we had lying around and was just wondering what is the purpose of the outside sides thankyou.
I am a bit confused by the boards you are saying are needed for this job. You say 1x6x12 and 1x8x12 and I hear that as 1" thick x 6" wide x 12 feet long. But I'm not sure how you get all the cuts out of those boards. Instead I bought a 1"x12"x8' and 1"x12"x6'. Probably wrong but I got some of the cuts done for the first few parts - just need to glue a piece to the long panels to get the 3/4" of the 12 3/4". Any direction is greatly appreciated as I am a new woodworker.
I see you made the changes you had discussed previously. Were your experts able to determine the exact cause of the loss of the hive? Was it primarily too much cold ventilation as you had suspected?
You can bet money on the cold killing his hive. He's going to have the same problem next winter as well if he continues to use a top bar hive. They are not made for extreme cold climates like his location. He'd do himself and his bees a big favor by changing over to a standard Langstroth type box hive.
laserguy I do not know anything about beekeeping. Why is the Langstroth a better choice for cold climates? Where I live, we have hot weather 9 months (gets over 100'), then in winter, it can get down to 10' Fahrenheit. What would be best choice for me?
laserguy Here's some really helpful "expert" info from Kenneth Piontek, who sent an email about why the bees died over the winter…..it makes sense that they most likely froze because of lack of bees to keep the hive warm….take a look below and hope this info helps. From: kenneth piontek Date: Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 5:52 PM Subject: dead bee hive To: jon@jonpeters.com From: kenneth piontek Subject: dead bee hive Message Body: . It is very clear from your video on dead bee hive that your bees froze to death due to lack of bees. Your bees had plenty of honey but not enough bees to keep temp up high enough to keep from freezing to death. Don’t know if your colony swarmed in Fall and thus left hive very low on wintering number or died of mites or disease(were there a lot of dead bees on bottom of hive?) Dead workers and queen in comb cells is telling sign of freezing to death. Bad thing about having a single hive body colony in cold climate is that bees have to break cluster to get to new frames of honey(they don’t crawl over top frame bar as a cluster!!) , rather than just move up into next box above them. A true bee cluster is like having a small soccer ball in the middle of 3-5 frames. Multi storied colony better in cold climate. Normally you’ll find outside sealed honey frames untouched in very cold weather because bees will move up vertically first..they can maintain their cluster and keep warm. Outside frames are utilized for food reserves until temps warm up enough for bees to break cluster and move around inside colony. Bees do not naturally like light inside colony and thus they will not lay eggs near glass and want to cover it up with propolis. Temps inside colony can also get too hot because of sunlight thru glass!! Eventually your frames will become impossible to remove to examine or extract honey because bees will ultimately utilize all available space in colony for bee larva and honey storage thus attaching all sides of comb to hive body ..thus the development of the modern comb frame. Your colony was young enough to not have gotten to that pt. Good Luck On Mar 22, 2015, at 5:07 AM, Jon Peters wrote: Thank you Kenneth, great information would you mind if I added this to my website I think a lot of people would like to read it. Yes I think the bees froze many of them were stuffed inside the comb, should I put the comb with the dead bees in the hive with the new bees. so my question is will the new bees clean the dead bees out of the comb and reuse it, there also some honey still in that comb. Thanks again for the helpful email, Jon - This mail is sent via contact form on Art and Home by Jon Peters jonpeters.com Jon Peters 11:53 AM (5 hours ago) to me ---- Forwarded message ---- From: Ken Date: Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 11:06 AM Subject: Re: dead bee hive To: Jon Peters Yes, the new bees will completely clean out the old bees and clean and fix any comb before they put any new pollen or honey in comb or before queen lays eggs in comb. Bees will repair any wax moth damage also. You should;t keep any comb that has evidence of foul brood in it. Foul brood spores last forever and will spread to new bees. If your not putting new bees in right away you should dump out loose dead bees, and move hive into dry place with lid off so moisture can dry out, and prevent mold from growing on comb, thus eliminating extra cleaning work by new bees. You could either replace glass with solid wall or cover with removable wall at same time to block out light. Build up of moisture in a colony over winter is not healthy either(you can’t e;imitate it but keeping it from getting excessive helps), thus you may consider leaving a 2 inch opening on landing board in winter rather than just having one little round hole unplugged. If you regularly experience severe winters you can wrap the colony’s sides in tar paper to keep howling cold wind from entering thru wood joints….leaving just the small opening on landing board. Don’t let entrance face predominate wind source. Yes, you can add this to website. Good luck with new bees.
question I am in southern Ohio and going to build a top bar hive from your plans now I want to know without having any comb like this will thiy build fast enough with me using a split from one of my hives without leaving or how should this be done ?
Wow,this is the most detailed video on Top bar bee hive DIY ever.Thank you and hey is there a video 2 for the top cover ? I guess I need to make my bee hive and share so that you see the power of your teaching .Salute from 🇿🇲 Zambia
Sir, you have made a really professional top bar hive and you film of the work is just as professional. I appreciate your efforts!
Thanks Rich
Got into chickens this year... Going to get into Bees this year as well. Love the detailed walkthrough on how to build these! Thanks for the "Free" plans. Too many ppl on YT or the Net "SAY" free plans, but then end up wanting to charge you for them. You've definitely earned my Sub with this "very old" (in internet terms) video! Thanks again, from a Disabled Vet in TN.
Excellent presentation. Appreciate the use of the 'finished' part as an aid to understanding the part being fabricated in each step. Thank you for sharing.
Jon is why I built my own topbar hive. His ideas & how he incorporates everything into his hives was my inspiration. Thank you, Jon. !!.
Not even interested in Bees, and still love watching your videos. Thanks for the always entertaining and informative videos!
cool thanks for the comment Daniel
I built a topbar hive about 8 years ago.....bees are going into it next week 😂 long time coming. I have a small viewing window which is perspex and counter sunk internally so it's flush with the surface of the sides so there will be no issues if comb is attached to it. It's only a small window as I wanted it to be dark inside for the bees just enough so I can peek 😉 and I constructed mine with untreated pine so no chemicals, all I did was coat in linseed oil. Well it only ever had one coat I'm ashamed to say but amazed how well it's held up, no rot at all. The very bottom of the legs look a little weathered, but impressed. It had a fresh coat of oil a couple of weeks ago in preparation. Great vid btw.
Jon, just wanted to say thank you. I built my hive per your directions, and it's beautiful! I didn't want to join boards so mine is only 10.5" deep, but it's 46" long to help compensate. Just a few trig calcs and I had the right numbers to maintain the angles. Again, thanks so much!
Jon, this is one of your best video yet. I feel like you covered a lot of ground, and the hives look great.
Thank you Ed
Thank you very much sir. I printed off your plans. Built my first top bar hive. Now to paint it. Very grateful!!
One of the best top bar hive construction videos. I think I am going to build one for myself, too.
Hey I have loved your work so much.i have local gives only.I need to use your advice and would like to keep in touch with you! Help me sir.
Jon, I really like your videos. The detail explanations of materials and process make it extremely easy to follow and reproduce. Thanks.
Thank you Mark
Dang man great video...I've been keeping for 20 years and woodworking even longer. Very impressive..you explain just as well as norm.
Watched this for the woodworking techniques. Great vid as always.
Thank you
Great video! My brother-in-law has been into beekeeping for many years and we started talking about TB hives some time ago, this video is really helpful and explains the build process very clearly. Thanks for posting. Best wishes from Sweden!
What a wonderful build! I really like the 2 tone coloring actually! Very elegant! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Jon,saludos desde España (Europa).
Aunque no entiendo el ingles me ha resultado muy ameno por que al mismo tiempo que hablas trabajas con lo que no se hace aburrido.Quiero hacerme una tbh y tu lección me ha resultado sumamente esclarecedora. Muy agradecido maestro.
This was sheer pleasure just to watch such precise work with clear explanations, thanks
Thanks for this, Jon - I've been waiting all winter to do this! Looking forward to part 2.
Thanks Steve
Well John: I have pretty basic woodworking skills and bunch of Ryobi hand tools.
So I followed your directions step by step and managed to put a top hive together.
Really, really happy with it. The lid is very heavy, though and I think it would be too risky to mount it on hinges due to high winds where I live so I put a couple of handles on the roof for lifting.
Could not have done it without you.
Cheers!
Oh! Also used your lid design for the garbage box. Not quite so heavy though so it has hinges and will hopefully keep the bears out.
Very professional and easy to follow. Thank you very much!! Time to build some hives.
Hi Jon, I finished my 1st bee hive according to your plans, but made one small change, a periscope entrance by Phil Chandler. We get a lot of wind here and this entrance will keep out the draft. Every time someone comes by there is a new project they have never seen before. Working on 2nd hive in between building gypsy trailer. Beautiful design.
Sounds good Dieter, thank you and a good Bee Season
The best teacher l have mate on this platform
Good looking hive. I'm try to get my husband to build me couple of these hives. I'm not holding my breath lol. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Jon,
Your videos are very well done as well as the craftsmanship. I would really consider using top entrances in your hive to ensure adequate ventilation this coming winter to prevent another hive loss.
I like it, very nice, easy to understand proffesional presentation!! I'm going to build one.
How is the hive?
@@ostrich3335
Hi,
I did not get a chance to build that one hive described above.
Here on our Oahu farm, we been been busy w bees, trees n figuring out how navigate this new economy.
Jon this is an outstanding video. You did an excellent job in making this easy to understand and follow along with. I have been searching for a long while now for a good how-to vid on making a top bar hive. My friend you hit this one out of the park. Thank you....Btw, I suffer from a couple different vision issues, one being that I am colorblind and I don't have any depth perception nor do I see in 3D. Your video here is EXACTLY what I have needed and I look forward to seeing your next one. From you I can learn things others have fallen short on. Many thanks to you for your time, effort and expertise.
A step by step manual, i 've struggled alot with correct measurements. Thanks, great
Great video. You are a very good teacher. Sure hope these hives work out! Awesome
Thanks Jason
Nice job there Jon...we all learn a lot from you...thanks for sharing yr experiences and skills...very much appreciated.
Excellent video and well explained, Jon! Looking forward to the next one.
Thanks Steve
Hi Jon. You are already a very special person, no need for the "pine allergy" ;)
ha : ) thanks man
Cheers for this, I have been researching "build a beehive uk" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Ever heard of - Tiyia Beehive Basophilic - (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my cousin got excellent success with it.
That vent space on the bottom door is just inviting Small Hive Beetles to come in in droves. Not sure where you are, but in Florida that would be full of SHB in no time. They can get through #8 screen wire. The only way a screened bottom here works is with an oil trap below.
Hey Jon, you got me hooked on using poplar after I built a blanket chest using your plans... it is so easy to work with. Now you introduced thermally modified poplar... which I assume means 'baked'. I haven't seen any of this stuff at the big stores... have you seen anyone bake their own poplar? I love the color of the thermally modified poplar used on the hive and that the dark color seems to go all the way through the wood...
Klint Harder sorry, one more question... why did you paint it?
the best i saw till now
Thanks Antonio
Beautiful hive! Any chance you could do a video of another top bar hive using a single 2x12 for the sides? Amazing work.
starting on my beehive .Thx for the great hands on video...likin the man cave/workshop....
Another great informative video, thanks Jon. The addition of the cut list on your website really makes things simple. Looking forward to more videos.
Iam watching you from Uganda.i surely need your ideas.
Great video, awesome instructions too! BTW, nice Makita 2040 planner! I have the same one in an unheard of factory mint green.
Interesting variation on my design - nice work!
Philip Chandler Thanks Phillip, I think you do great work.
What a gorgeous hive! Thanks!
Late to the party, but excellent video.
Do you glue boards together to get the 12-3/4" dimension? Can you use a 1"x12" from the hardware store, having the actual dimension be 11-1/2"?
Sorry if you explained this in the video.
Edited again, to apologize... You explained it in the video and looking closer, I can see the joints. Well done.
Thank you, you can glue the boards up just use an exterior glue like tight bond three
Hello from Portugal. Nice professional job. But in Portugal we put a back glass window covered. We can see the bees with less disturb in the colonie. Only make intervention if we need too. Sorry my english...is too bad. :-( but im from portugal. Hugs
Good job, tha k you. Im no woodworker, i just want to build a hive. I thought id offer this because i see you want to help people...
You might consider taking that first one back apart in front of the camera (students) and laying it out spread eagle as yougo, maybe show what the important features are.
Then pick up each piece and show how you make it. When you put it back, there are two... It would help me stay oriented better to which piece you are on and what each measurement you make is about.
Fantastic video Jon! Good design.
Thanks Tony
Hi Jon,
I take this from a french man who leave few years en Africa . African Bees seems not attached wax when they have 110 or 115 ° but in France with the apis melifera melifera from Here we have some problems... I try since a year with 120° and no problem with that. Perhaps it depends of the bees... (Sorry for my poor english !!)
Jon you do good work love it. going to build some of these.
I know you are pretty good with the free-handing circular saw, but any thoughts on making a simple table saw sled? You could ensure that the cuts are all perfect that way, just a thought.
I'm certainly going to use a sled on my table saw for those cuts
Thank you . now I know I can make my own inexpensively !
Really nice video John looking forward to the next one, thanks so much for sharing! W
Thanks Walt
Awesome work man, very informative detailed and helpful
thank you so much for sharing your plans. i am going to try to build the top bar bee hive.
Great..thanks Pam
Hi Jon, nice hives, I have a question, on Langstroth hives you have a section where the queen lays eggs and is separated with the honey manufacturing .. I assume you do the same thing just longitudinal ... ? Thanks, Jason
Jon, found your video and subscribed to your channel. Most excellent construction, explanation, etc. I saw a top bar building video where the top was hinged on the side instead of the end as yours is. Do you think that matters? Thanks and you are the current "Norm" in my opinion.
Thanks Marc, no I think either way will work As long as you can get to the bars. I’ve stopped using a top bar hive because I didn’t have much success. I now know a little more about beekeeping and plan to try the top bar again next year.
@@JonPetersArtHome Great. Thanks!
Awesome job with this video.
I was pleasantly surprised @ 2:45 to see you wearing a respirator. Looks like a 3M half-face mask with NIOSH rated HEPA 100 (pink or purple) particulate filters. Unfortunately, it is not a commonly known fact that saw dust is a carcinogen. If you see something floating around in the air, that is only 20% of what you are inhaling with another 80% which is so small you cannot see.
Awesome video as always!
Thanks Bob
Free plans no longer available? Pity. I need 10 hives for ag exemption.
Sure are
jonpeters.com/build-a-top-bar-beehive-part-2/
Great video Jon!
Do the plans show the adjustment you made with the shim to the roof cleat or should I make it 1 1/4" instead of the 1" listed. Thanks!
Nice video per usual. Time will tell but based on the width of the end pieces and grain orientation, I'm predicting some form of cross-grain doom.
Thanks Mike , yeah you could have a point there
Hi Great Video ! What kind of pollen trap do you recommend for this Too Bar hive ? Thanks 🙏🏻
Hi Jon! I've used your plans recently and now I'm a big fan! I'm now writing a paper for school on this and am giving you full credit. I'm rewatching, and am for some reason just noticing you made two follower boards for one hive? Why is that? I only made one.. What is the second one for?
Thanks! Andrea
+Andrea Jimenez Hi Andrea cool! It's to create the feeding chamber
Hello sir. Is it possible to make this hive with measurements that i like or do i have to take your measurements? Do other measurements have a bad influence on the bees' behaviour or doesn't the size or comb drawing space matter? Thanks.
Jon, does your design have the correct 120 degree angles for the sides calculated for the small cell foundations the bees will construct?
Great job!
Excellent video and well explained, Jon! Looking forward to the next one.
Greetings From Argentine.!
Steve
Looks great!
The legs looked like pine... Also, can pressure treated lumber be used or would it be toxic to the bees? Thanks for the great video :)
Looks like Doug Fir to me...
David Dube Thanks Michael, yeah you got it David they are Doug Fir
Hi Jon,
Great video and good explain, but I've a question : do you respect a 120° degrees between the floor and the sides ? I began with a TBH this year in april with a 120° and 24 cm deep ! wich wood do you use to make it. I've used DOUGLAS
Thx for sharing...
+Yves Bodin I see a lot of requests on this 120 degree question in here. Where is this information of 120 degrees located. It's not in my book & I want to make sure I read on this before starting my build. Thanks
You did a very good job of large carpenter
THANK YOU!!! Nice attention to detail. Looking forward to our own hive!
Hi, i love this design but my only question is how do you keep the queen bee seperate from your honey so that she doesnt lay eggs in your honey producing part of the hive?
I spy with my little eye aaaa stack of skateboard decks. :)
Cool project and awesome execution.
Very nice , thanks for the video
OUTSTANDIN !
What is the utility advantage of a slanted box vs a 90 degree sided box?
Thanks a ton! im going to be giving this a shot real soon !! :)
Hey, great video got all my ideas from this all I did was just Change a few lengths just to suit the wood we had lying around and was just wondering what is the purpose of the outside sides thankyou.
bestian4 Thanks they help hold the legs
I am a bit confused by the boards you are saying are needed for this job. You say 1x6x12 and 1x8x12 and I hear that as 1" thick x 6" wide x 12 feet long. But I'm not sure how you get all the cuts out of those boards. Instead I bought a 1"x12"x8' and 1"x12"x6'. Probably wrong but I got some of the cuts done for the first few parts - just need to glue a piece to the long panels to get the 3/4" of the 12 3/4". Any direction is greatly appreciated as I am a new woodworker.
Nice job!
Thank you
How many pieces of wood and measurement would i need to complete each part of the build , i didn’t see this on the plans
Hi ~ I was interested to know how to add a pollen trap to a Top Bar Hive. Any chance you can direct me on that. . . ? Thanks
Excellent ❤❤👌👌
How are these hives holding up? Are u happy with them ?
Brilliant really useful!
Dude, kudos for the work, it would have been lovely had you provided the measurements in normal units, not only in american
Did I meet you at the Calgary Stampede?
Is there a part 2 made?
Thank you!
How did you find out you were allergic to pine did you get hives?
Thank you John! It’s looking great! I want made to! I have standards box Rut!
Does your design have the correct 120 degree angle for the sides calculated?
I see you made the changes you had discussed previously. Were your experts able to determine the exact cause of the loss of the hive? Was it primarily too much cold ventilation as you had suspected?
You can bet money on the cold killing his hive. He's going to have the same problem next winter as well if he continues to use a top bar hive. They are not made for extreme cold climates like his location. He'd do himself and his bees a big favor by changing over to a standard Langstroth type box hive.
laserguy I do not know anything about beekeeping. Why is the Langstroth a better choice for cold climates? Where I live, we have hot weather 9 months (gets over 100'), then in winter, it can get down to 10' Fahrenheit. What would be best choice for me?
Sam Comfort, well known bee keeper only uses top bar hives. He lives in NY state
laserguy Here's some really helpful "expert" info from Kenneth Piontek, who sent an email about why the bees died over the winter…..it makes sense that they most likely froze because of lack of bees to keep the hive warm….take a look below and hope this info helps.
From: kenneth piontek
Date: Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Subject: dead bee hive
To: jon@jonpeters.com
From: kenneth piontek
Subject: dead bee hive
Message Body:
. It is very clear from your video on dead bee hive that your bees froze to death due to lack of bees. Your bees had plenty of honey but not enough bees to keep temp up high enough to keep from freezing to death. Don’t know if your colony swarmed in Fall and thus left hive very low on wintering number or died of mites or disease(were there a lot of dead bees on bottom of hive?) Dead workers and queen in comb cells is telling sign of freezing to death. Bad thing about having a single hive body colony in cold climate is that bees have to break cluster to get to new frames of honey(they don’t crawl over top frame bar as a cluster!!) , rather than just move up into next box above them. A true bee cluster is like having a small soccer ball in the middle of 3-5 frames. Multi storied colony better in cold climate. Normally you’ll find outside sealed honey frames untouched in very cold weather because bees will move up vertically first..they can maintain their cluster and keep warm.
Outside frames are utilized for food reserves until temps warm up enough for bees to break cluster and move around inside colony. Bees do not naturally like light inside colony and thus they will not lay eggs near glass and want to cover it up with propolis. Temps inside colony can also get too hot because of sunlight thru glass!! Eventually your frames will become impossible to remove to examine or extract honey because bees will ultimately utilize all available space in colony for bee larva and honey storage thus attaching all sides of comb to hive body ..thus the development of the modern comb frame. Your colony was young enough to not have gotten to that pt. Good Luck
On Mar 22, 2015, at 5:07 AM, Jon Peters wrote:
Thank you Kenneth,
great information would you mind if I added this to my website I think a lot of people would like to read it. Yes I think the bees froze many of them were stuffed inside the comb, should I put the comb with the dead bees in the hive with the new bees. so my question is will the new bees clean the dead bees out of the comb and reuse it, there also some honey still in that comb.
Thanks again for the helpful email, Jon
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This mail is sent via contact form on Art and Home by Jon Peters jonpeters.com
Jon Peters
11:53 AM (5 hours ago)
to me
---- Forwarded message ----
From: Ken
Date: Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: dead bee hive
To: Jon Peters
Yes, the new bees will completely clean out the old bees and clean and fix any comb before they put any new pollen or honey in comb or before queen lays eggs in comb. Bees will repair any wax moth damage also. You should;t keep any comb that has evidence of foul brood in it. Foul brood spores last forever and will spread to new bees. If your not putting new bees in right away you should dump out loose dead bees, and move hive into dry place with lid off so moisture can dry out, and prevent mold from growing on comb, thus eliminating extra cleaning work by new bees. You could either replace glass with solid wall or cover with removable wall at same time to block out light. Build up of moisture in a colony over winter is not healthy either(you can’t e;imitate it but keeping it from getting excessive helps), thus you may consider leaving a 2 inch opening on landing board in winter rather than just having one little round hole unplugged. If you regularly experience severe winters you can wrap the colony’s sides in tar paper to keep howling cold wind from entering thru wood joints….leaving just the small opening on landing board. Don’t let entrance face predominate wind source. Yes, you can add this to website. Good luck with new bees.
question I am in southern Ohio and going to build a top bar hive from your plans now I want to know without having any comb like this will thiy build fast enough with me using a split from one of my hives without leaving or how should this be done ?
I would hold off until spring… also check out Sam Comfort beekeeper do a google search
Nice video. The pine allergy is a bummer - sorry about that.
Thanks man, yeah could be worse
Its good for me but the problem for my understanding is the roof. How dies it fit?
mesh size for anti varroa floor congratoolations awesome colmena :)
Good stuff
Fantastic! Bravo! :)