Back Medná kráva Czech Top-bar hive German Colmena horizontal Spanish Ruche horizontale à barres French Colmea horizontal Galician Medná krava Slovak
 Modern top bar hive | |
| Other names | Kenyan Hive |
|---|---|
| Classification | Beekeeping |
| Inventor | unknown |
A top-bar hive is a single-story frameless beehive in which the comb hangs from removable bars. The bars form a continuous roof over the comb, whereas the frames in most current hives allow space for bees to move up or down between boxes. Hives that have frames or that use honey chambers in summer but which use management principles similar to those of regular top-bar hives are sometimes also referred to as top-bar hives. Top-bar hives are rectangular in shape and are typically more than twice as wide as multi-story framed hives commonly found in English-speaking countries. Top-bar hives usually include one box only, and allow for beekeeping methods that interfere very little with the colony. While conventional advice often recommends inspecting each colony each week during the warmer months, heavy work when full supers have to be lifted,[1] some beekeepers fully inspect top-bar hives only once a year,[2] and only one comb needs to be lifted at a time.[3]
There is no single opinion leader or national standard for horizontal hives, and many different designs are used.[4] Some will accept the various standard frame sizes.
- ^ Advice for New Beekeepers UK National Bee Unit. 02/03/2020 http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=209 accessed 6.6.2020
- ^ Fedor Lazutin. Keeping bees with a smile. Principles and practice of natural beekeeping. p 321. New Society Publishers. April 2020.
- ^ Michael Bush. The Practical Beekeeper. p.551. xstarpublishing.com. 2004. ISBN 978-161476-064-1
- ^ Top Bar Hives, warts and all. January 4, 2020. Paul. https://oxnatbees.wordpress.com/2020/01/04/top-bar-hives-warts-and-all/ This article first appeared in BBKA News, January 2020.