I'll need to move the follower board close to bar 10 to make the space smaller for winter. I'll also have to rethink feeding. Currently the feeders are far down the hive from the combs in unused space. I don't know how to locate feed close to the used bars for winter feeding.
You can see in the comb below that the bees are back-filling comb that has been used for brood raising with honey as the cells become available.
They are doing the same in this comb.
I have a ways to go to learn how better to handle the top bar hive. I still squash bees even using the scissor method of lowering the top bar. However, I find this a very calm hive and often wear open-toed sandals and just a jacket and veil when I am working with them.
Regarding feeding a TBH, I saw a fellow use a follower board with a few holes in it at the bottom. Then the feeder jar (Boardman like you have it) was on the other side of the follower. That way the bees had a sort of back entrance which only goes to the feed jar (since it is covered by bars like usual).
ReplyDeleteJust a thought - Steven
http://stevensbees.blogspot.com
Hello Linda,
ReplyDeleteI've started 2 TBHs this year and also found that "scissoring" the bars back into place tended to trap bees between the bars. Then I saw a Youtube video by McCartney (Outofabluesky)from Texas. He puts the bar back by closing one end first and then slowly closing the other so that the angle between the bars gradually goes to zero. This way you can monitor any bee that is still between the bars and wait for it to vacate. At the closed end the bars are too close for any newcomer bees to get between the bars. I've found that this little trick stopped a lot of squishing.
Cheers, Axel in Vancouver