Welcome to bees!

With the queen cage in the box, it was time to pull the sugar syrup can and reach inside after it. What a welcome to the world of bees, my first package and I get to stick my hand in it! It turned out to be pretty cool, the bees were pretty mellow. Except for the one that got bumped between the top of my hand and the inside of the box. Rookie mistake. First sting. I had a cartoon hand for a few days, it was all swollen up. The guys at work thought it was hilarious. My six year old daughter shared some wisdom on the subject of bee stings: "You know dad, that's going to happen if you mess with bees."

Troublemakers

This little piece of comb was constructed by some trouble- maker bees while in transit. They were kind enough to attach it to the queen cage, which then refused to come out of the package as planned. Please disregard the various bee parts in this photo. That was a stunt bee. No actual bees were harmed in the installation of this package.

Finally, some bees...

All dressed up and finally, some bees to put into the box. By this point I have obsessed over the details, it's time to actually do it. This is Sunday, April 11th, around 11:00 am, maybe 65 degrees and sunny.

What's In Your Hive?

It's time for the big day. I go over all my notes and mentally review what the fine folks at Walter T. Kelley told us about installing a package of bees, and despite all of my research, I arrive unprepared. I cannot find one reference to removing the frog from the hive, so I winged it and removed him to a more frog friendly area.

Time to pick up our package!

April 10th was the big day. Sydney and I set out for Walter T. Kelley in the beautiful Republic of Kentucky to pick up our package of bees. We had a great time, Syd enjoyed the installation demonstration and we both learned quite a bit.

Tops bar proprietary design

Okay, the last post about the notch was a bunch of BS. I could not help myself. Now you see why the bars have a notch. This is a project on a budget. Thank you to Sherwin Williams.

Proprietary secret top bar design

Notice the subtle notch in the strip of wood on the bottom of the top bar. This strip of wood is a guide and anchor point for the bees to begin building their comb. After extensive research I discovered the notch to be a key element in the design of the top bars.

Inside the hive

For those unfamiliar with top bar hives, this pic shows where the bees build their home. The bars on top of the box are where they build comb and each end is enclosed with a moveable follower board. More top bars are added as additional space is needed. This hive has entrance holes drilled in the side.

In hive feeding

This is what I came up with to supply supplemental feeding for the new colony. Notice the notched follower board to accomadate the feeder.

Finished summer roof

Here is the finished summer roof. For winter I plan to build a variation based on some ideas from the fine fellows at http://www.customwoodkitsinternational.com/ to deal with any possible condensation issues.

Finishing the top

This is the test fit of the top of the hive, constructed from 1x4 and 1x6 cedar. I also installed a 3 inch vent in one end. The whole exterior has been finished with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and beeswax.

Stainless #8 mesh

This hive has a stainless steel #8 mesh bottom. It is constructed from 2x6 pine, edge joined with biscuits and gorilla glue. I chose 2 inch for extra insulation during the winter months.

Finishing touches on TBH #1

Here is the almost finished top bar hive I built with my daughter Sydney. It is based on a design by Phil Chandler with several modifications of my own. I believe I have taken a concept founded in simplicity and successfully overcomplicated it.

Top Bar Bees in So IN

Welcome to my new blog! This will probablly be the least updated blog on the internet. It's purpose is to give friends and family a way to track the progress of my first attempt at beekeeping.