Spring Checkup on a Top Bar Hive, untouched for 3 years

[@SparkieDog1]

That hive set outside in the elements for three years like that with no top cover/roof on it?? Wow, just wow!!!!!

[@adelebezzie1]

Thank you for this video!! As a new top bar beekeeper without a mentor, videos like this with your running commentary are invaluable! 🙏 please keep them coming

[@massachusettsprepper]

This was a good video and a great example of how well a top bar hive can do. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@FruitTreeForest]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. We have a top bar hive which has not been tended for a couple seasons and we are about to attempt an investigation. We are beginners so this was perfect timing to watch and learn how to do it properly. Cheers!

[@krankywitch]

Thank you very very much for this - informative and entertaining! I love your nonchalance, serenity, wit and humour. I'll be watching lots more :D

[@eco-beehive]

Another fantastic video Phil thank you

[@eco-beehive]

Hi again,, so the little plastic container is basically what I discovered as well and is how I harvest honey , I call it the NOOK AND CRANNY MENTHOD. I came to it in a slightly different way but after some investigating and reading various studies, this is the result.. bees when clustered in winter will not retrieve honey if it is 2 1/2 " sideways or down from the cluster. another observation is the queen will not lay in a smaller box to the side if surten conditions are met. like your tub.

[@eco-beehive]

also I have found , as with this hive , trees don't change internal volume, and if you have a hive , even with the entrance in a not ideal position, as long as they are not messed with they will thrive. bees in a hive , over winter, are virtually bullet proof if the volume and insulation does not change. they will then know , how much honey for what size cluster of bees for that space , and insulation, and and environment.

[@eco-beehive]

lastly , a funny observation. SO I was experimenting with insulation and honey consumption ,, I have hives and scales and insulation ,, I tracked weather wind temperature,, I then added insulation , and after a number of years I can confirm they if you add more insulation bees for a set cavity size will not use less honey but over winter with more bees. so there is my experiment flumixed.

[@eco-beehive]

PS love your work Phil, always learn something and you are just so easy to listen to a watch.

[@tripbalch4851]

Love that you included your mistake. It makes me feel a little better about all the times I screwed up too when I should have known better. If Phil can break a comb then I won't feel so bad when I do it again. Thanks for the videos, you are just enough ahead of me that you are giving me something to do while we wait for our season to start. Plus I am running out of things to do while we are shut in. Keep it up.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I don't want to be thought of as some kind of bee guru, because that usually ends badly. I want people to learn to think things through for themselves, so I think it is important to show that I can make mistakes, not least because I may be able to offer a possible solution.

[@richardmore-oferrall5806]

Phil, Just discovered your channel, wonderfully informative for someone thinking of TBH method for some time but only now deciding to switch in to it from "battery" method. BTW just as in gardening, "there are no mistakes in beekeeping, just experiments that worked out differently", At least that's what a wise man told me once

[@Mr_Chuckles]

4:26 I love the "sentry" that was posted to the snail shell as well!

[@littlefarmer32]

You are the Divid Attenborough of the bee world,, we are about to get into the bee hives and for sure like this design. You say winter however , winter in north central Alberta, CANADA is a lot colder. I need to find a good set of build instructions, or find someone near to build a couple of these top bar hives. Have fun save the bees

[@kristinawrites238]

I’m in Northern AB too, looking for a good set of plans as well for our winters.

[@skyraisinranch9913]

Great video! Love the apis kardasiania! Vwey stylish

[@jennydavewhitney3746]

great advise i have made 4 top bar hives not sure that they overwinter that well but they are a great idea thanks torquay dave

[@RustyStrings1]

Great vid Phil. Just what I needed. I'm into my third year with 2 top bar hives and it's great to see a detailed inspection like that.

[@WoolieBsApiary]

long but interesting 3 years untouched kept me watching

[@ApisCarnica]

Nice video :) Greetings from Croatia!

[@PaulOtis]

I have thought about drilling holes or doing cutouts to have a place for fondant or sugarboard. I may actually do it now that I have seen this video. Thanks Phil!

[@memdass747]

I love your video’s. Do you feed your bees right before fall? I started my hive in April with about 5000 bees, brood, pollen, and comb.

[@philipershler420]

I use fondant frames from goldstarhoneybees.com. They are very convenient to make up and store. One can even put them in a freezer for long term storage. I put them at the end of the honey stores during the winter. So if the hive consumes all the honey stores they have two bars of fondant to see them through. Nice video, thanks.

[@terrygee210]

It's interesting to see and hear those attacks on the camera lens, which seems to be their main target. I assume that this is because defensive bees mistake it for an eye, and evolution has taught them that eyes are a good target. There are similar repeated attacks on a row of black disks on a shed door near my hives if I upset a colony.

[@1beero]

would really like to learn more about the eco floor in this hive, i guess the mesh has been attached the bottom and then the matters put over the top of it, is there a solid wood screen there too? to support the mesh in anyway? how do these eco floors work with the varroa mite?

[@chrisblester37]

I like the look of these hives and the easy way you can work them .but my certain is honey extraction how do you do that and dose that involve removing the coning

[@newatthis50]

Yep it was interesting and useful. I'm watching all your top bar videos. It might be a pain to make but could you make a frame shaped like your comb? It would give your comb support? As I'm watching I'm designing a hive in my head, to have ready for next spring. Winter where I am is brutal some years. Wet spells interspersed with cold others. I too want to have this as not particularly a honey producer but a bee producer. To just leave alone mostly so the bees could learn their own way around the various things that come their way

[@T0tenkampf]

There is a version of top bar called a Cathedral Top Bar which uses hexagonal combs. See BackYardHives for details. I bought the kit and wasn't entirely happy with it but its a cool idea.

[@newatthis50]

Thank you! At this moment I like Phil's top bar. Going to try to make a frame for it. Maybe make it a little deeper. as bees only go up in cold. I've seen it -15 for an extended time some winters.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

The whole point of top bar hives is to avoid having to use frames. This does mean that you have to take extra care handling combs, of course.

[@T0tenkampf]

@@newatthis50 a top bar with a frame is a horizontal Langstroth. This is what i mostly use but made them compatible with top bars as well. I manage it like a top bar though, from what I've learned from Phil and a top bar book that i have.

[@fishmanfairclough7530]

What your describing is most like a Layens hive due to the depth of the frames 50cm they need side / bottom braces to be strong enough.

[@jugglingbag]

Great video! How do those bees survive without any intervention on varroa for 3 years? Take care

[@robingraham6820]

Thanks Phill, as always lots of helpful info. Our season here in Orkney is way behind yours in the tropical south, but good to see you in action before I do my first inspections of the year. I am using Smith hives but have a couple of horizontal top bar hives and some quadratic hives I want to get occupied this year. So if you are running any colonies in quadratic hives (like a small Wharre) I would be interested in any videos or suggestions. Cheers Robin

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Quadratic hive videos coming up soon!

[@zoewheatley4655]

Thank you for this brilliant video. I am on my 2nd year of Top Bar bee keeping. I am still building up my confidence but seeing your calm and relaxed way with them as well as your mistakes is very reassuring. Can I please ask about not checking for diseases or treating for varroa? Are we 'allowed' to leave the bees completely alone in the UK? I bought your book and chose top bar for the bees rather than producing honey, so I would love to let them bee!

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I do check for diseases, in that I am constantly on the lookout for symptoms of AFB, EFB and any number of viruses. I take it as read that there will be mites present these days, but I have chosen to take a Darwinian approach to Varroa, on the grounds that any form of treatment masks the ability of the bees to deal with the problem themselves. There is no point in perpetuating bees that are dependent on chemical treatments for their survival.

[@vaskoritsas5150]

A very informative video, but I am surprised that there are no old queen cells from previous years. Is this the original queen? Have the bees never swarmed (leaving behind queen cells)?

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I think it unlikely to be the original, but I have no way of knowing, as she will not be marked. Assuming that they have swarmed (rather than superseded) you would expect there to be some old queen cells, but I didn't see any.

[@DonaldRogersBaldEagle]

What is the spray, and are you using it in place of a smoker? Thanks for the excellent video.

[@MarcellaSmithVegan]

He had some birch syrup? and a propolis ball around the inner tube he said it slowly dissolves and helps the hive with germs, an excellent idea especially since smoke is a carcinogen to humans to breath into our lungs, I would love to see how he makes the birch syrup

[@nickwilson5637]

Another very good video, I'd stick to a dedicated mic though I think. Those ladies were loud. I'm looking forwards to more top bar and zest hive video's. Have you had a gander at the slovenian az hives? Thoughts?

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I think you are right about the mic. Trouble is, the wire gets in the way. I may have to use a radio mic. Are the hives you mentioned the rear opening kind?

[@nickwilson5637]

@@BarefootBeekeeper yeah, the slovenian AZ's open at the back and the foundationless frames are slid onto bars, taken out horizontally. Usually fitted into the side of a purpose built shed like structure so the hives are never really open to the elements

[@nelsonchajon8840]

QUESTION : WHY DINT YOU USED SMOKE TO PACIFY THE BEES ??

[@fishmut]

Nelson Chajon ... I can tell you smoke does not always work when your bees are pissed at you, sometime water does it better because they don’t like taking baths lol.

[@Pixie3p14]

He says at one point that the water and propolis spray is just as effective. Maybe deters them rather than making them sleepy like smoke does?

[@johnhenson8862]

If I lived in a perfectly controlled temperature environment and someone sprayed water on me I think I would pause for a moment also.

[@holzsmsf]

Many thanks Phil... But how are you able to hold your frames horizontal and they not break off at the tope like mine if I get them too far off the verticle. Seems you are breaking one of your own rules yet the consequences are not apparent :-)

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Older comb is much tougher than new comb, and with experience, you learn what you can get away with.

[@irishcoffee6894]

Phil, the small "spacebars" aren't necessary at all ??

[@dasyob1]

Hi Phil, great video. I tried to download the free book and "how to make" but there's a broken link and I can't seem to add anything to the cart or download them. Is there anywhere else I can get the book & plans?

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

The link to the hive plans should be working, big Lulu have messed up all my links and I'm waiting for them to be reinstated.

[@dasyob1]

Sadly even when you do find them on Lulu you can’t add the free ones to the basket to checkout. So it’s quite frustrating being so close but failing at the last hurdle! ☹️

[@fishmut]

The reason why there not interested in the comb honey in the container was because they were to busy attacking the camera knocking themselves out lol.

[@lindareynolds1]

What is in your spray???

[@lindareynolds1]

Nevermind that question. I figured that out watching the video. Better question is how do you get the birch sap?

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

@@lindareynolds1 by tapping birch trees. See kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJevoXtolJWSfq8

[@MarcellaSmithVegan]

If the camera was on the other side it would see the frames with the light of the sun instead of the frames you are showing are in the shadow, that may be why you are tempted to hold the more horizontal as you've done a few times, a broke one comb was sure to happen. Not being nasty, I understand how distracting it is to film/talk/teach/ and do everything perfectly, its got to be hard at times, I was just trying to point it out for next time. I am interested in what you say and I want to see what you are showing as I;m interested in a top bar hive and you have a lot of experience

[@quiouix]

Apparently leaving the bees alone is no good for honey production. I would have expected a massive harvest if I had left them untouched for 3 years. The message I got from this video is if you want honey you need to do something about it. Leaving the bees alone, as suggested by many natural beekeepers, is not productive at all.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

Not everyone keeps bees for profit. And I could have taken honey from that hive twice per year if I had wanted to.

[@T0tenkampf]

I would imagine that they make what the need and use what they make rather than go out of their way to honey lock their brood chamber?

[@fishmanfairclough7530]

@@T0tenkampf I think it depends on the bees genetics I have had bees that made one of my large bait hives 30cm x 50cm x 50cm honeybound in 1.5 years and I have others that live in smaller hives without problem for longer than that. Each hive has it's own personality and some are more sustainable / restrained and others go hell for leather. Some bee keepers would only value the second and others find great traits in all the bees they keep.

[@fishmut]

Something not mentioned here is there has to be a nectar flow, sufficient food supplies , if there is drought and long periods of dearth etc they may only be getting enough to keep them going plus a bit extra, just depends and if they swarmed at all a number of times over that period sets them back a bit , many things to take into account , don’t just assume there should be masses of honey with out understand all the other possibilities. What I mentioned is only some issues there are many more things that can affect a hives production.

[@plainsimple442]

Check out Tom Seeley: The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild

[@T0tenkampf]

Lol at the Kardashian dig, its a shame that our society makes those sort into millionaires. BackYardHives makes an interesting right angle hive tool for cutting burr comb that you might look into. By your comment, I assume that you are skeptical about commercial foundation cell size vs natural comb is creating unnatural sized workers?

[@SparkieDog1]

Deformed wings are a sign of what? The only stupid question is the one not asked because you can't learn if you do not ask.

[@drrota]

wow, 3 years and then someone comes in and starts breaking up the place. what could be done different - smoke maybe?