Yellow Top Bar Inspection April 6, 2014

[blueblood]

I was pleased to see the queen in this tbh.  The colony survived mice attacks and a harsh winter.  Everything looked like it was going well inside.  I believe I am going to get these off the ground to make it a little bit harder for the mice.

[Lburou]

That looks like fun!  If it were me though, I would forget to keep the comb in the right position and it would be on the ground.  Nice queen too. 

[riverbee]

wow bb, NICE LOOKING QUEEN!!!!, that hive should do well. like you said, i would try to get them up off the ground.  thanks for the vid!

[blueblood]

It is fun.  I like looking through my tbhs.  And yes, have to be careful with top bar comb, keeping it on the same plane.  Otherwise, SNAP! 

[riverbee]

"yes, have to be careful with top bar comb, keeping it on the same plane.  Otherwise, SNAP!  "

and you know this how dave?.........

[blueblood]

Wellllll, the wind caught one of my honey frames last season and it dern near snapped all the way off.  It was hanging on by a comb thread.  They are easy to break without the weight of  let alone brood let alone the poundage of honey.

[Papakeith]

Well, so much for TBHives not being able to survive a winter.
Nice video Dave

[Slowmodem]

And yes, have to be careful with top bar comb, keeping it on the same plane.

 

[blueblood]

Well, so much for TBHives not being able to survive a winter.
Nice video Dave

Yeap, there ya go.  And it was a cold winter like you all get.

[blueblood]

And yes, have to be careful with top bar comb, keeping it on the same plane.

 

  okay okay, plain.......ha!

[apisbees]

Is it always that windy where you are located? Or some times it gets worse. In a lot of your videos the wind is howling in the background. think of all the energy the bees use to fly against the wind.
Yes I was thinking you need legs under the top bar hives.

[blueblood]

Both top bar hives are coming along magnificently.  Here is a little video of the girls taking care of the honey combs.  I was starting to be discouraged by the slower pace by which the bees were filling the Langs with honey.  While they have filled and continued to fill them in the Langs, it is interesting to note the natural pace of the tbh bees in regards to storing their superfluous honey.  Is this a correct correlation or theory?  I don't know but it's something to think about.

[apisbees]

Dave, has your top bar hive swarmed at all this year? 

[blueblood]

Dave, has your top bar hive swarmed at all this year?

Honestly, I am not sure.  They have continued to move forward from the opening of the season.

[apisbees]

It is just that the bees in a Langstroth would bee 3 or 4 boxes of bees by now. I have read that they seem to expand slower when in a top bar hive than compared to being kept in Lang's.

[blueblood]

I agree.  If you look closely you can see propolis/wax evidence on the inside walls of the tbh where I cut comb from last year.  I really think the keeps that keep shorter tbh's have a good idea of this already.  I was surprised by the keep in the article/link you posted not too long ago was keeping extra long tbh's.  I don't count on my tbh's for too much honey.  I mainly like to use them for education, eating the delicious comb honey from time to time and simply working them.