TOP BAR BEEKEEPING

Some of you may have noticed a couple of funny shaped boxes on legs nestling in a clearing down at the bottom of
St Agnes field next to the prison. These are our beehives. (Only one has bees in it).
They do not look like ‘conventional’ beehives because they are top bar beehives which are long, low and horizontal
rather than tall and narrow.
Top bar beekeeping, also known as natural, sustainable or barefoot beekeeping has been practiced for centuries.
Today, it is growing in popularity and is a particularly attractive option in places where resources are scarce or
expensive. They are not the only design used by natural beekeepers; there is also a Warre hive which looks more
like a conventional hive:
In common with many others who are keeping bees this way, I became interested in this method of beekeeping after
going on a conventional beekeeping course. I was keen to find a different way of keeping bees. For example,
conventional beekeeping relies on a lot of expensive equipment, a lot of time (to inspect and manage the beehive
every week throughout the season), a lot of heavy lifting (to add boxes [or supers] when the bees are making lots of
honey and removing them to harvest the honey) and also relies on chemicals to treat pests and diseases. In addition
to the frequent inspections of the hives, there is also a fair degree of manipulation and management of the bees,
e.g. clipping the wings of the queen, stripping out the larvae of drone bees to try and prevent swarming and pest
infestation, feeding the bees sugar if too much honey has been taken from them.
‘Natural’ beekeepers feel uncomfortable with many aspects of conventional beekeeping and so we choose to use,
as we see it, a more sustainable and bee friendly method.
This is based on three basic principles, proposed by Phil Chandler (who some of you may have seen in the
programme recently ‘Life in a Cottage Garden’ about Carol Klein’s garden when she had a top bar beehive
installed by him).
1. Interference in the natural lives of bees is kept to a minimum
2. Nothing is put into the hive that is known to be or likely to be harmful to the bees, to us or to the wider
environment and nothing is taken out that the bees can afford to lose. Our job is to listen to them and provide the
optimum conditions for their well-being.
The approach is one of simplicity and low technology and is about working closely with the bees in a relationship
based on mutual benefit and co-operation rather than simple exploitation, to get as much honey as possible. Many
natural beekeepers are more interested in providing the optimum conditions for colonies which can thrive and
multiply than in harvesting honey.
Natural beekeeping aims to work with the natural impulses and habits of bees on the basis that they have been
doing it for thousands of years and probably know what they are doing better than we do! It allows them to build
their own comb in the shape they prefer (catenary curves as you are asking) with varying sizes of cells depending on
the season and whether they are for workers, drones or queens. It allows them to space combs containing honey
slightly further apart than comb containing brood (larvae). It allows them to raise as many drones as they prefer
and even to swarm if that is what they choose to do.

Hives can be constructed simply, cheaply and easily with rudimentary woodworking skills. They can be built out of
reclaimed timber, even old pallets and are essentially a long box with straight or sloping sides with simple wooden
 bars placed across the top (hence the name top bar beehive) which the bees build their comb from. Extra bars are
added as the bees need them and taken out as the colony contracts for the winter.
The top bars are the only elements which need to be a certain size (based on ‘bee space’ – the minimum amount of
space bees need to move around the hive. If there are any big gaps they tend to fill and seal them up with comb or
propolis).
The overall size of the hive does not need to be precise and can be adapted to suit individual beekeepers’ personal
preferences.
The hive can have entrance holes in the middle, at the sides or the ends which can be opened or closed depending on
the bees’ requirements and activities. An inspection window is a useful addition and makes watching the bees easy
without disturbing them.

Of course the fact that the hive and its components are not standardised is also a slight drawback when it comes to
getting bees to start with (often from a ‘nucleus colony’ from another beekeeper) unless you start with a swarm.
The hive is usually on legs to keep it off the ground and can be at a working height to suit individual beekeepers.
This makes it easy to inspect the hive and because the top bars enclose the colony, opening the hive does not expose
the whole colony at once (unlike a conventional hive). There is evidence that the atmosphere and temperature are
 critical to the health of the colony and how it works and communicates and that constant interruption creates
unnecessary disturbance resulting in extra work to regain the correct temperature and atmosphere.
Bees are amazing creatures which work together co-operatively to form a ‘superorganism’ – a group of individual
insects which behaves like a single creature, almost like a mammal in fact.
Our bees have survived the winter and seem in good health. We are hoping that we might get some honey in the
spring – we will wait and see if there is any to spare for us to have!

Kay Crowe

There are hundreds of books about beekeeping and the web is a fantastic resource for more information about this
alternative way of keeping bees including plans for building top bar hives or Warre hives.

Here are couple of links to get you started if you are interested or sceptical:
www.biobees.com – details here of Phil Chandler’s book ‘The Barefoot Beekeeper’ and also a forum which is
fascinating and useful
http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm - based in the USA, Michael Bush has kept bees the conventional way and
now uses TBBHs. Lots of really useful practical information based on years of experience.