Musings
After five years with top bar hives, here's my take on the good, bad and ugly of it:
Bees cluster near the entrance of their new home.
Shock and Awe
After 35 years of knowing only commercial beekeeping, I built a top bar hive as a curiosity. I planned to observe natural comb building and then apply my observations to commercial small cell beekeeping. What I experienced was a beekeeper's version of shock and awe.
First, the top bar hive bees easily kept pace with my small cell Langstroth colonies. Comb building wasn't a impediment when left to do it their way. They could draw out comb about 10:1 compared to a hive with foundation. In some way, the foundation actually interferes with the comb building process.
Second, my top bar hive bees survived and thrived without much intervention. They were healthier. They had few queen problems. They stayed in sync with the season. And they tolerated the mites when the broodnest structure was left intact. They simply didn't need me.
That's when I realized that most of my previous bee management, was only bee equipment management. And although it was based upon decades of local experience and standard industry practice, it had more to do with the beekeeper than it did with the bee.
That equipment was designed for the beekeeper's needs. It was functional, but a poor approximation of what the bees would choose for themselves. I now know that bee acceptance is a better measure of a the bee's adaptability than it is for suitability. The bees may adapt and accept something marginally suitable, but they do it a price. And the price is often reflected in colony health.
I saw that somewhere along the way, I'd made the mistake of thinking this beekeeper and mankind knew more about how to manage the affairs of the bee, than the bee itself. In essence, I interjected myself into the process as a kind of benevolent bee god, fighting foes and dispensing blessings. But from the bee's perspective, I was probably more a delusional bee devil, pushing, confusing and stressing them in the name of production. I was shocked by my arrogance and ignorance!
I think many beekeepers have followed the same path. They think that more human intervention equals better bee management. But I've found that exactly opposite is true. I stand in awe of the bee's inherent ablitity to survive and thrive in spite of most modern beekeeping practices.