Building a Top Frame Beehive

[Mike Henderson]

In the process of building my Langstroth beehive and searching for a swarm to put in it, I ran into a commercial beekeeper who wanted someone to build her a "Top Frame Beehive". Top frame beehives are different from Langstroth hives - I can't tell you whether they're better or worse. I did some research and she and I talked through what she wanted. Based on that, I started building the beehive.

I'm pretty well along - although not completely finished - but enough to share what I've done so far. You can see the build process here.

One thing I thought was interesting was that she wanted a window - and door to close it off - in the side of the hive for educational purposes.

I'm including a picture here of the hive in its present state.

Mike

Beehive046.jpg

[Chris Parks]

I noticed this the other day......

http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-f...04-13uv5j.html

[Mike Henderson]

I noticed this the other day......

http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-f...04-13uv5j.html

Apparently, that has caused a lot of discussion in the beekeeping community. The concern is that people will get a beehive and believe that they never have to open the hive. But beekeepers know that you have to open the hive on a regular basis to monitor the status of the hive, including the condition of the queen. The other concern is that people may take all the honey and not leave enough for the bees during the winter.

Mike