Vertical Hive
Could a vertical top bar hive be the ultimate natural comb hive?
Three box vertical top bar hive.
After reading about David Heaf's modified Warre' Hive and Ian Rumsey's Simple Beehive and Beekeeping, and browsing through the Warre' hive material at Biobee, I wondered if a vertical top bar hive hive might be the ultimate natural comb hive. If it were managed like Ian runs his Simple Beehive, natural beekeeping would be easier than ever.
Such a hive, with top bars, would allow removable comb for a legal hive in the USA. A thin cutoff wire, much like the one a potter uses when cutting his clay off a pottery wheel, could be very slowly run between two boxes. It should be slow enough to allow any bee, like the queen, to escape from the wire. The box could be tipped back, in the same plane as the comb, and any comb attachments to the sidewall cut. The box could be set back up, being rotated in the same plane as the comb, and combs carefully removed, much like any top bar hive comb. That would allow any required comb inspection. Or no comb work, ever, if they work like they should :>)
I don't know a thing about how bees construct natural comb in a tall vertical cavity. I do know, from my horizontal top bar hive observations, that the vertical component can be critical to colony behavior at certain times during the season.
Lots of ifs here:
- Does a vertical orientation have some biological advantage over a horizontal one?
- Will the bees construct a broodnest core in an empty box placed on the bottom?
- Is it economically worth building vertical boxes versus buying/shipping lang deeps?
A beehive is really an adaption to the beekeepers needs as long as it doesn't interfere with the bees. To make this hive viable, a positive answer would be required for all the above. If the results are only marginally different, it would be hard to justify any vertical hive over the advantages a horizontal hive possess, especially the added heavy lifting and possibilities of tipping over.
Criteria
So, I've come up with my own version of a vertical top bar hive using the following criteria:
- Designed for prolific bees in a northern climate.
- Tall enough for small cell sized comb development.
- One box per season rotation.
- Square configuration.
- Interchangeable cover and bottom.
- Self spacing top bars.
- Comb spaced at 1 1/4".
- Conventional construction material.
- Easy construction with minimal cuts/parts.
Construction
Two 1" x 8" x 3/4" glued together comprise the building stock. The sides, cover and bottom are cut from it. That allows a square hive, 14 1/2 inches on a side.
Boxes
The front and back have a rabbit cut in them for the top bars. And one along each side to protect the open grain of the sides, which reduces the sides length to 13 3/4 inches. A lifting cleat is fastened to the front and back of every box.
Top Bars
The top bars are cut from 3/4" stock. They are 7/8" wide and 13 3/4" long. Two finish nails, driven to the proper depth, provide a 3/8" space between the bars and allow self spacing. A thin notch is cut down the center of the bottom side of each top bar for a foundation based starter strip or a bead of beeswax.
Four box vertical top bar hive.
Cover/Bottom
The cover and bottom are identical migratory type components. They have 3/8" wood strips around their edges to provide a proper bee space. Except the bottom lacks a 3/8" wood strip across the front, which provides the entrance. This front strip is tacked in place and can easily be removed or affixed converting a cover to a bottom or vice versa.
End grain is exposed on these hive parts. But I found that the conventional ways to cover them actually traps moisture causing them to rot. So, I've left them exposed.
With the minimal management needed for this hive, both the cover and the bottom are nailed to the hive body.
My cover violates several of the basic principles for the insulated, ventilated covers of the Warre hive. But my winter condensation observations indicate this cover should be sufficient for my climate.
Management
Management is very simple. At the end of the season, the hive is heafted to determine if it's heavy enough. If so, the top box is removed and it's honey harvested. Then, this empty box is returned to the bottom of the hive. If not, the hive can be fed. Or a spare feed box, previously set aside, can be placed on top.
I haven't built or managed bees in this hive. But it's the most interesting project on my list. I let you know how it goes.
