Source for 1 3/8" top bars

[Eric Bosworth]

I tried top bars last year and had a comb collapse as well as comb stuck to the sides. When I started, I made my hives so they fit deep frames. That way if t didn't like it changing would be easy. That said I now use complete frames without foundation. I can buy a rough cut 1"x10"x8' for $4. With that, I can make top bars for frames by cutting the comb guide with the router and ripping it with the table saw. I had a guy come with a portable saw mill and had him cut a 1 3/8" thick board for frame ends. If you want to make top bars fast you need to start with the proper thickness. Unless you have access to a mill that will make custom cuts that isn't easy to find. I should have also had him cut a 1.25" board for ends as well. For brood nest frames I use a standard 1"x??? Because they are planed to 3/4". Works perfect with 1.25" ends in the brood nest. I think if it were me, making top bars for top bar hives, with what I know now I would make them 1" wide. Then I would make 1/4" and 3/8" spacer strips. That will make building them quick and easy. It will also give the most flexibility for expanding the brood nest or what ever.

[jonesjungle]

Here are some. Just googled "top bar hives for sale" http://www.beethinking.com/collections/top-bar-hives/products/top-bars

[Eric Bosworth]

At $2.40/ bar that seems pretty expensive to me.

[Eric Bosworth]

I was thinking about my last comment on how I make top bars and if I was to use top bar hives again how I would make them. If you don't have a source for rough cut lumber you could do the same thing with planed lumber only using wider spacers. As a comparison if the top bar is 3/4" wide (A standard thickness of a 1"X? at a lumber store) then rather than using a 1/4" spacer you could use a 1/2" spacer and still have the the same 1.25"/ bar in the brood nest. For 1 3/8 bars just make 5/8" spacers.

I like rough cut because it is cheap and I live about 20 miles from a saw mill where I can pick them up Tuesday - Saturday. Hemlock works great. Depending on how my bees do this winter Next spring I plan to have the portable sawmill back because I have a lot of larch on my property. Larch is great because they are tall straight trees, and naturally resistant to rot. It helps that I have a days work for a saw mill in about 4 trees. That should keep me going for a while. The biggest problem with larch is the sawdust. It gives very fine splinters that are difficult to see to remove.