Top Bar Hive Build.....

[FarmerD]

thats not the half of it...... had to replace the add a leafs on the back of my truck that i broke hauling too much treated lumber for the hive legs, had to replace the front brakes, adjust the parking brake, and change the oil. all that on top of clearing new spots on the farm for all these hives and repairing/repainting the nucs to haul out to my bee removal guy later this week. ohh, and ive been working my normal full time job and doing side work for extra cash. trying to get some seedlings started too...... and i need to take some cuttings to root......and, and, and....

 

[Beekissed]

Could you explain your comb hangers and why you've chosen the rabbit wire for that purpose? I've not seen that little trick before and it's interesting.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You might be the only person I know who is busier than me!

 

[FarmerD]

Could you explain your comb hangers and why you've chosen the rabbit wire for that purpose? I've not seen that little trick before and it's interesting.

well, the comb hangers are for 2 purposes. one is if i have any comb that breaks away from its attachment to the bar, i can use the hanger to "re hang" it and hold it in position until the bees reattach it. the other is the bee removal guy i know wants to hang portions of the removed comb from the cutouts he does to help keep the colony in the new hive and give them a jump on becoming established. i used rabbit wire because its stiff and strong. when you cut it and bend it like the pic, you end up with a "c" that can hang on the bar and provide dozens of wire "teeth" to slide the comb onto.

this is the pic i got the idea from.

 

[Beekissed]

That's an EXCELLENT idea!!! I love that. Does it interfere any with the "bee space" of your bars or do you compensate for that by fashioning your bars a smidge more narrow to accommodate the placing of the wire? Or is it that very small difference does not mess with bee space width at all?

 

[FarmerD]

They will just be the n there temporarily until the comb gets attached. It's still experimental so I don't know all the answers yet, but I'm leaving the bar width as is

 

[Beekissed]

Is there any danger with damaging the comb too much, enough to break it off, when you withdraw the spikes of the wire later on?

 

[FarmerD]

Don't know yet. We used to zip tie those clamshell hair clips to the bars to hold the comb, but it never worked as well as advertised. I'll just have to wait and see if this works

 

[Beekissed]

I'm just imagining trying to withdraw those wire points across the entire width and causing too much weakness in the top of the comb. But, I could see using smaller sections of the wire at three points while letting them attach their comb at the empty sections and this providing enough stability that it wouldn't break the entire thing off when withdrawing the spikes. Just thinking out loud here and pondering. I LOVE this idea, though, and will definitely be trying it out if I get back into bees any time soon.

 

[FarmerD]

should just be a couple dozen small holes in the wax..... dont think itll be a problem. unless, that is, the comb over the holder before i can get it out