I've been wanting to go natural comb on my hives. I also have a hive that needs more room. I've got plenty of deep boxes but not many frames. Has anyone tried to just put top bars (maybe with starter strips or ripped on a 45 degree angle) into a deep langstroth hive body?
Peace be yours,
Scott
The reason people don't do that is because the bees would attach the comb to the sides and bottom and you would have trouble getting the frames out (well...you could probably pry out the top bar, but the comb may not come out with it.. :shock:). The KTBH's are angled to discourage side attachment, but the bees sometimes do it anyway.
That's basically what a Warre' hive is I've put top bars in a langstroth many times, but you quickly run out of room and without the gaps (which you would have with 1" wide top bars but not with 1 1/4" or larger bars) you don't get good communication in the next box up (assuming you're going vertically).