Top bar bee hives.

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by mischief, Oct 12, 2013.

  1. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Rick I think the only isolated areas you would find will be islands with no bees. The honey bee has surely spread around the world from escaped swarms over the centuries. A friend of mine bought a Queen from a breeder who mates all his queens on an island off Western Australia. The price was $400 about 25 years ago.
     
  2. Rick Larson

    Rick Larson Junior Member

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    I think you are right. I have 40 acres of land in the middle of a swamp with no agriculture within a square mile+. The plan is to flood a square mile with hives allowing all the drones to live. Won't be perfection, but the dilution will be a lot less, first because there are very few people and no beekeepers within 5 miles, and because I will have multiple hives in multiple locations and the queens, which can get material from 2000 drones, will have mostly what I have designed for the area.

    I would have it done this year, but I saw this guy talking about solutions to the problems last winter and signed up for his course. Now my time is really tight with walking the talk! I have more trees to plant right now!
     
  3. mischief

    mischief Senior Member

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    Hi Rick, I finally got to watch your vid. You make it look so easy.
    Interesting idea of using the citrus juice plus spray, I had come across a similar idea using diluted cider vinegar for the same reasons. The powdered sugar method sounded alittle wasteful.

    Its good to hear that you have enough space to do something to deliberately increase the genetic diversity of bees.....and to plant for them too.
    Do you use foundation or do you let your bees make their own combs?

    I realise you are probably busy 'doing',(with all those hives), but could you start a thread in the members system too? That way those of us who cant keep bees or are looking to start, can get a better idea of the intricacies of this.
    I like that you are taking a different approach to the mite problem and think this really does need to be documented. The more info we all have the better it must be for finding and using solutions that actually work,especially if it can be proven to be better than the current system of chemical overdrive. Maybe I should have said 'when' proves the current chemical system is not the best alternative.

    Hi Luke,
    I going to start checking out the Warre system too.
     
  4. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    the challenge is avoiding the regulators from destroying your work. if you have infected hives then it seems the state can do about anything it wants.
     
  5. Rick Larson

    Rick Larson Junior Member

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    I don't know. I would destroy a hive quickly once it was determined the natural methods aren't working.

    I treated two hives last year that had mites which were effecting them pretty hard. They were always cranky and just weren't making an increase. In Northern Hemisphere August, this was the formula that worked to perfection: one part sugar, one part water, mixed, then added one part concentrated lemon juice. The high citrus/acid content wiped out the mites (and killed a few bees), the sugar had them grooming each other right into the start of winter. I was wondering if they would have mites this year, but the hives didn't make it through the abnormally long winter. Some type of mouse ate them right to their eye covers. Right, now I will cover the one small hole I leave then with 1/4 mesh.

    I might look calm, but my mind is always racing along.
     
  6. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    If you have hives with AFB the Regulators have every right to take action if you don't treat or destroy the hive and all its contents by burning the lot. The worlds food supply depends on pollinators and we cant have a few cowboys trying to buck the system. It is great if natural treatment for mites work but we need something here in Oz for the small hive beetle. There is a few things being trialled. I will find out more on the weekend as I am going to stay overnight at my bee keeper friends house.
     
  7. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Sweet! Check out these nifty modern hives!
     
  8. Nickolas

    Nickolas Junior Member

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    hey guys I hate to break it to you but I was told by Ken Gell the president of my local beekeeping association (CVAA) that top bar beehives are not allowed in Australia. all beekeepers must register how many hives they have with the DPI and top bar beehives don’t meet the requirements. if there is an outbreak of AFB or varroa mite or anything else in your area the DPI goes around checking all hives and they need to pull apart your hive quickly. as far as I know only langstroth are allowed in Australia. think he even said you can get a fine for owning a TBBH or for having unregistered hives.
     
  9. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    I used to have my hives registered. I would still have the paperwork for my registration number. Long time ago now lol.
     
  10. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    i was so patiently...

    ...waiting for this update from you that i completely forgot about it. : )
     
  11. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    you have no escaped honey bees around there? no woodlots with hollow logs? what do the native peoples do? are they required to turn in the location of all bee hives they find and use?
     
  12. rmcpb

    rmcpb Junior Member

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    Good, if somewhat old thread, but I have one point to make. The box makes no difference to the bees, its how you handle them so a HTBH, Warre or Lang are just a box to the bees. Natural beekeeping is a method not a box.
     
  13. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    The weather got too cold to check. Small hive beetle is less of a problem during winter.
    My friend has special slotted bottom boards which the beetle should fall through. Once the weather warms up I will check on them and let you know.

    One thing he is doing of interest is sealed portable containers for empty supers. He takes a load of bees to a site and one of these containers. The next trip out he just uses the ute rather than drive the truck 300 0r 400 km to take supers out. When he goes out to check if they need supering he has them on hand ready to go straight on. All his supers are colour coded to match the hives in an apiary. That way those supers only go on that apiary and reduces the chances of spreading any disease if it is present. He has also toyed with the idea of a mobile extracting plant for years now. Just no money to set it up.
     
  14. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    There are wild bees but I think a lot are being killed off by small hive beetle. Every hive if strong enough will swarm if not managed properly.

    As for the legality of Top Bar Hives I am not sure but every commercial apiarist uses Langstroth. It would only be back yard keepers who wouldn't register their hives anyway.
     
  15. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    I don't the question here is whether bees prefer which type of hive but if people use top bar hives and how they have found them to manage.

    You look like a bee keeper in your avatar. Which side of the Great Divide do you work your bees? ( Great Divide is a mountain range up along the east coast of Australia).
     
  16. rmcpb

    rmcpb Junior Member

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    We have hives in the Blue Mountains and out west.
     
  17. rmcpb

    rmcpb Junior Member

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    Can't edit the above post so will add some here. One of my peeves is that the top bar hives are sold as "natural" and better than vertical, framed hives, especially Langs. There is nothing natural about any hive, its a box for bees that is probably better than most naturally occurring cavities where the bees take what they can get and compete with other species for these cavities.

    Natural beekeeping is a method regardless of the box.

    Now I will get off my high horse :)
     
  18. briansworms

    briansworms Junior Member

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    Once you leave a post too long you cant edit it.

    How many hives are you running Rob? My mate has just put bees on canola at Moree. They have become very stroppy since putting them there but are doing very well. He had to wear gloves for the first time in about 30 years lol.
     
  19. rmcpb

    rmcpb Junior Member

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    No wonder they are stroppy! Imagine if you had to only live on spuds, you would not be a happy chappy.

    I have hives at Narrabri, Mudgee and the Blue Mountains. All up there would be about 40 hives which we mainly use for pollenation on our farms and friends gardens. I have LOTS of nucs for genetic diversity with an eye to when the Varorra mite gets here we will need lots of diversity to find some strains to survive. I use lots of swarm traps near the few feral colonies to get surviver genetics from the beetle as well which can only help. Too much time spent on bees ATM.
     
  20. Benjy136

    Benjy136 Junior Member

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    Looks like you got your wires crossed, bu that's alright. I had to quit trying to get logged in this morning. I'm trying again tonight. As for all the checks, everything else is a-ok. When I log in, the site says"thank you for logging in, Benjy135" Then a message shows up to tell me that I'm not.

    The funny thing is that when I go to my PMs that little "reply" button comes on and I can work through here. I'm now going to go back to the "Hello SC " site and see if I can get on.

    Benjy
     

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