Blue Top Bar Inspection April 6, 2014

[blueblood]

This is the first inspection for for both tbh's.  This video is of the blue one.  I was pleased to find the queen and all going well within.  Like I mentioned in my yellow tbh, I need to get them off the ground higher. 

[riverbee]

great video dave, and another awesome looking queen! i am learning a great deal from you on top bar hives. question for you, i know nothing about top bar hives, so how do you manage for swarming?
oh and ps, loved the bee on the camera at about 5 min's......

[blueblood]

great video dave, and another awesome looking queen! i am learning a great deal from you on top bar hives. question for you, i know nothing about top bar hives, so how do you manage for swarming?
oh and ps, loved the bee on the camera at about 5 min's......

Yeah, I forgot to mention the wanna bee movie star there at the end.  Well, I hadn't thought about swarm management on tbh but I suppose I can split them using an empty tbh which I happen to have a 3rd.  You can't just throw together a tbh .  As for additional swarm management, I could cut the brood out and band it in a lang and shake the bees in.

[LazyBkpr]

Nice Vid Blue.
   I am glad to see your smoker and mine were both built to the same exacting specification. Designed to go OUT ONLY when you need them the most.
   Great technique for handling the comb too. Took me a while to figure that out with foundation-less frames.
   Thanks for taking the time to Vid for us!

[blueblood]

I found a handful of bees at the bottom of the follower board on the outside of the comb area yesterday.  I pulled the follower board out and discovered they had built comb right up to it and were already trying to build comb from the top bar attached tot he follower.  I ate that warm delicious, honey filled piece of comb and then added more bars.     It was absolutely full of bees!  I may split a tbh for the first time next week.  I have an extra tbh sitting in my shop ready to go.

[jb63]

Is the tbh built so you could add a lang honey super on top to give them some more room?I've seen pics of that and it looked like a good add on.

[Slowmodem]

I found a handful of bees at the bottom of the follower board on the outside of the comb area yesterday.  I pulled the follower board out and discovered they had built comb right up to it and were already trying to build comb from the top bar attached tot he follower.  I ate that warm delicious, honey filled piece of comb and then added more bars.     It was absolutely full of bees!  I may split a tbh for the first time next week.  I have an extra tbh sitting in my shop ready to go.

Wow!  It sounds like your math is good, too!   

[blueblood]

I checked them again today to make sure they were doing okay with room.  Wow, this is my favorite hive!!  Absolutely chocked full!  I added yet three more bars.  I didn't smoke them so this noise is their fury to build!    I also captured the very interesting way they chain together to draw comb naturally.  Check out the two sets of chains sticking out on the right.  It's almost like they are the engineers or surveyors of the project.  As if they were measuring or something.  I could sit and watch them for hours doing this.

[LazyBkpr]

 I also captured the very interesting way they chain together to draw comb naturally.

   Festooning.

   As always, excellent videos Blue! Thats what you call a curtain of bees!

[riverbee]

love it!!! great video dave of festooning bees!

i like what scott said, "curtain of bees"........ 

[blueblood]

I had forgot about that bee definition!  Thanks for reminding me.