Some of the Pros & Cons of Top Bar Hives - Ali Campbell.
Due to the level of interest (or curiosity!) that is out there, I have been asked to pen a piece on Top
Bar Hives (TBHs), outlining some of the potential benefits and disadvantages, many of which do not
come to light until you have started using them. Hopefully, this may save other beekeepers who are
thinking of trying these hives, from getting some frustrating surprises, or having to reinvent the
wheel.
Having kept bees in Top Bar Hives for a couple of seasons now, I’ve had time to assess some of the
pros and cons compared with framed hives (and for the sake of ease here, I will lump all the framed
hive types together). This is not an exhaustive list, and other bee keepers may take a different view no change there, then!
Firstly, TBHs are NOT a panacea for beekeeping, nor are they the 'perfect' hive that some would
make them out to be. They certainly have a place in the hive 'Stable' alongside the other patterns of
hives, framed and unframed, but they are no better or worse - just different. A case of 'Horses for
Courses'!
In the right situation and circumstances they can be ideal, but the reverse is also true!
Often, TBHs are put forward as more 'bee friendly', and 'ecologically sound' than framed hives, but I
can see no reason why this should be the case. Badly used, TBHs can be fairly unfriendly to the bees!
As Brother Adam says, it is the type of management employed by the beekeeper that is important,
rather than the shape of the box that you use. If your management is that way inclined, you could be
just as bee friendly and ecologically sound in a framed hive.
The following are some of the things you may wish to consider before embarking on keeping bees in
a TBH. Some issues appear as both a Pro and a Con, depending upon your point of view!
Pros
The TBH is easy to manufacture at home, with no specialist tools beyond a power drill, a saw, and a
tape measure.
Cheap to build, and new or recycled timber is fine.
The only precise measurements are the width of the top bars, and the angle of slope of the sides.
Plans are available on the internet for free - www.biobees.com.
No storage requirements for extra hive parts - it's all in one box.
No frames to buy or make, and little/no foundation.
No heavy supers to lift.
Work is all at one comfortable level.
Comb renewal is straight forward.
No comb can be reused, reducing disease risk.
The queen tends to move onto fresh comb each year.
Very good ventilation if mesh floors are used, and little, or no, condensation or mould in winter.
Depending on the design, artificial swarms and nucs are very simple, and require no extra
equipment.
Due to the shape of the hive, the hive walls tend to stay dry, reducing the chilling and condensation
in winter.
Suits cut comb or chunk honey production.
All natural comb with no imported residues or disease.
Bees tend to be quiet on the comb.
Only four faces of comb open at a time, instead of the entire hive, so fewer bees flying during
inspections.
Very little smoke required.
Easy to feed fondant, but it can't be put above the cluster.
No queen excluder, so the queen has unlimited brood space, so ...
No worries about single, double or brood-and-a-half.
Can run more than one colony per hive, depending upon the design chosen. E.g. main colony and a
nuc.
Very low annual running costs.
Easy to view from underneath, or to crack back a follower board to see the space available, and if
more top bars are needed.
Possible, but unproven, natural varroa control due to natural cell size?
Free choice of the ratio of worker: drone brood, as no pre-printed foundation.
You can view the cluster in winter without disturbing them, by looking up through the mesh floor
with a torch.
Cons

Full inspections tend to take longer than for framed hives.

Combs can be very fragile when new, or full of brood, with a risk of breakage during
handling.

Requires a deeper knowledge of the specific bees in each of your hives and their normal
behaviour, so you can spot anything unusual that might require further investigation. Lots of
hive watching!

Best populated by swarms - top bar nucs are very hard to source. Do NOT be tempted to try
converting frames of comb and brood into top bars!

There are various different designs out there - which one you choose needs some careful
thought.

The hives are difficult to transport, so lend themselves towards static sites.

TBHs have a larger footprint than framed hives, so take up more space per hive (about twice
that of framed hives).

Difficult to heft, estimating winter storage levels can be tricky and comb sizes will var , so
the rule of thumb that a 'full brood frame equals 4 or 5 pounds of stores' doesn't work.

Varroa control can be tricky and require some inventiveness, with some products impossible
to use.

Drone brood culling for Varroa control is not possible.

Feeding in large quantities is difficult, especially in out-apiaries.

TBHs require more frequent checks for space requirements than framed hives, or risk
creative comb building.

No comb can be reused, so less honey produced.

There seems to be a tendency to build more comb if there is space, rather than fill existing
comb with stores, Space can be restricted with follower boards - this needs careful
monitoring.

No queen excluder, brood may appear in patches on honey combs, making them difficult to
extract. The queen seems to like laying on the freshest comb available.

Have to think laterally and transpose framed hive methods into TBH methods, as they are
not always the same.

Very little practical literature out there on Top Bar Beekeeping. You can often diagnose a
problem from standard texts but you may not be able to use a standard solution.

May not suit novice beekeepers due to the lateral thinking and ad hoc methods often
required.

Cannot use extractors to get run honey - cut comb or 'mash and strain'.

Cannot shake bees off the comb.

Can require two people to do some of the tasks, e.g. artificial swarms, as the hives are
awkward to handle.

You must NOT twist the combs out of the vertical plane!

Comb building guides on the top bars need to be very obvious, and run the full length of the
top bar.

Fondant has to be put in a tray on the hive floor, or slung from a top bar.

Cannot use oxalic acid.
I am sure others will think of some different issues, but hopefully this may have given some food for
thought!
Good luck!