Why Every Beginner Beekeeper Should Start with a Langstroth Beehive | Beekeeping Equipment Explained

[@truth12]

Awesome info, as I am beginner , your logic makes complete sense to me, "have the hive which majority of experienced beekeepers have around you" cheers from Australia 😊👍🇭🇲🇭🇲

[@raterus]

In software development, sometimes you use a technology simply because that's what everyone else uses and where the knowledge share is. You made a great similar point here and sold me on it.

[@jz8875]

Hi, I made a langstroth hive box but have few questions, hope you can help me. 1. Is it a must you must have 10 or more frames when you start to use it? Can't you start with just 5 frames? 2. To make it less heavier, can I reduce the width and/or length of the box? 3. Can I start the box only with the brood chamber first and add the honey super later when the brood chamber is full ? 4. Can I harvest part of the honey combs from the brood chamber? Appreciate you help to answer these questions for me please. Thank you in advance.

[@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801]

Great videos, thanks. We are looking forward to spring and warmth! Best wishes from a cold UK.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Aloha! Thank you.

[@caveatemp]

I started out with a Langstroth but now I'm completely sold on the Layens horizontal hive. Much easier on me and the bees.

[@richardhyatt-beekeeping]

Excellent. just what I was looking for this morning. Love the details. Definitely subscribing.Thanks.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Awesome, thank you!

[@RobinPoe]

I have seen beekeepers in our local association roll their eyes when someone mentions a top bar hive. I am researching starting beekeeping, and the 10-frame hives looked pretty heavy, so I am looking at a 8-frame hive. I have also seen someone who works with 5-frame stackable nuc boxes, and the bees do great. As you observed, the bees like to build up rather then out. I was thinking stackable nuc boxes might work, except where I live the winters are long and cold, so the nuc box might not provide enough of a core shelter.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

I have been told that nuc's overwinter pretty well. Before you invest in a bunch of nuc boxes, find someone in your association or online that successfully does this so you know exactly what you'll have to do over winter. Otherwise, find top bar beekeepers that can help you over winter in your area. Don't listen to the eye rollers. Do what you're comfortable with. An 8 frame box can still be heavy. you can always take the frames out one by one and put them in a box on the ground so you can lift it up, but when it's hot out, adding this extra step isn't always ideal.

[@hermitholllerhomestead2080]

I have seen beekeepers in our local association roll their eyes when someone mentions a top bar hive. 🙄 Its OK to do things that are not mainstream.

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

Dude, 5 frame stacks are THE BESTEST! What did you end up getting?

[@RobinPoe]

So after two years of futile defense against the bears. I researched the Slovenian Bee hive. Bears are a real problem in Slovenia. They solved the problem by putting the bees in a house instead of hive boxes, because bears can't break into a house very easily. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hInRd5WVaNR6p8k

[@jenifersmith2597]

Do you recommend a foundation?

[@rhondasavva2500]

Thank you totally enjoyed your video looking forward to jore

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks, Rhonda! Is there a topic you'd like to see? I'd love to know what topics you want to learn more about.

[@shawnidgaf9793]

I bet you have a honey 🍯pot worth more than gold 😋 you've been doing this a minute - can you tell us how soon after starting a hive can we expect to harvest honey?

[@hermitholllerhomestead2080]

I think she makes topbars sound unnecessarily complex and difficult. If you have no local topbar beekeeper near you there are topbar facebook groups and folks on the forums who can offer good advice. If you are really on a tight budget you can get into topbar or Comfort hives for little or no cost. Scrap wood will work just fine.

[@natserog]

love this video!! --will share on Texas Friendly Beekeepers Facebook

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Great! Thanks for sharing.

[@renaroots5474]

In hawaii does it really get cold enough for them to cluster and not travel to the honey?

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

In most of Hawaii, it is not too cold for the bees to get to the honey in their hive, but this video is for beekeepers in all climate zones, not just the one I'm currently living in. When I kept a top bar hive, I lived in Pennsylvania, where we had a fairly long and cold winter, so speak from my experience from keeping bees in a variety of climate zones.

[@renaroots5474]

Thanks. Mine got taken out by hive beetles. Trying out my langstroth for the first time. I heard you get more swarms with the queen excluder.

[@arturomedina2590]

hola tambien se puede iniciar tu apiario con capturas de abejas el problema es que donde tener tu apiario por la cercania de la gente o por que la edad no te permite cargar las alzas como en mi caso que inicie con 4 colmenas y ahora tengo 9 cajonnes o 9 colmenas soy carpintero y no me rindo pero el tiempo ya no me rinde igual que antes ahora estoy construyendo alimentadores internos y externos de madera aprovechando el equipo de herramienta que tengo me gusto tu explicacion para el uso de las cajas langstroth me costo caro el tener que aprender que en mi region la mayoria de apicultores usan cajas langstroth pero en fin saludos desde morelia michoacan mexico

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

Try...just one time, just One time in your life...try making a 5-frame tower. A hive of nucs. I swear, it's the best size for non-commercial beekeepers. 1 size frame, one size box. I *Love* them. You can go about 5 boxes high. With all my soul I hate top bar hives. Everyone I've ever helped with them had melted combs on the bottom of the hive.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

That idea just blew my mind! That is a great idea! I can't do it because I have all these 10 frame boxes and no time to build more but that is a great way to run a hive to cut back on different sized equipment AND you can still buy a nuc since you're using deep frames.

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

I do love my nucs! Well, if they're w/40 frames, it's not very nuc-y, but I love my nuc towers. When/if you get time, you can easily cut a 10-frame box & make it into a nuc. My medium boxes, I'm slowly cutting strips and making them into deeps. A bit time consuming, but...meh, I've got time. @@BeekeepingMadeSimple

[@timothyrawson920]

Why do you say flow hives are heavier then langstroth hives??

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

I filmed a video about this but haven't edited it yet. The flow hive frame weighs about 2.5lb each where as a regular langstroth frame weighs a few ounces. An empty flow box (because of the heavier frames and need for a heavier wood) weighs about 20lb empty. A langstroth honey super is about 11lb. A full flow hive honey box is pretty heavy. I avoid checking the flow hive I have. I'm not sure the exact weight, but I would say upwards of 55lb. A full honey super usually weighs about 35lb. If you use mediums instead of shallow boxes for your honey you're looking at your box weighing about 40-45lb.

[@mch.l.trecords9169]

I think the reason why they say top bar hives are better for bees is because top bar hives are less disruptive and intrusive to the bees

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thank you for the response, but queen excluders are not always needed. I never use them. The queen almost never lays above the second box in your hive even without a queen excluder. It is a completely unnecessary piece of equipment. A flow super when full is about 65lb and a non flow shallow box is 45lb. Yes, they're both heavy, but 20lb is a big difference when checking your bees in the heat of summer every week. Maybe this matters to you and maybe it doesn't, but I believe worth mentioning to those with trouble lifting heavy equipment.

[@mch.l.trecords9169]

@@BeekeepingMadeSimple I never said queen of excluders were necessary I never even brought up queen excluders once. I said the reason people think top bar hives are better for the bees is because they're less intrusive to the bees. Because you don't take all the bars out at once with top bar hives you leave half of the combs completely alone because there's a clear indication between which bars are brood and which is honey. Also, top bar hives are typically less prone to disease because the bees make the combs naturally and in nature the honeycombs are smaller than they are in a langstroth hive. Which makes it harder for mites to get in with a top bar Hive where the combs are made naturally because the chambers in the combs are smaller and harder for mites to get in.

[@WaleshiddenhistoryMD]

Clearly not if you're in the UK.. nobody uses them.. we all use nationals.. so maybe you want to make it clear what country people live in..

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Yes, I am in the United States and am talking about what beekeepers do in the U.S. I am not talking about beekeepers everywhere in the world.

[@ulaB]

"That's what most beekeepers use" - unless you live in Germany. :-)

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Yes, that is my mistake for not including, most beekeepers in the U.S. This video was created fairly early into making beekeeping KZbin videos, and it did not occur to me that people from outside the U.S. would find my videos or watch them. Thank you for the comment.

[@ulaB]

​@@BeekeepingMadeSimpleIt was quite funny when I started last year. I looked into what other beekeepers use and 85% or so worldwide seem to use Langstroth and most videos I watched were about it. So I went for that, only to realize that in Germany most people use "Deutsch Normalmaß" (German Standard Size) and just lately a few are switching over to Zander or Dadant. I am not sure why since Zander is very similar to Langstroth, but I guess German beekeepers like to experiment. There is only one beekeeper in my local group that also has Langstroth.