Topbar in colorado

Grizzly8119 · July 08, 2011, 01:04:22 PM

I live in Colorado and made some topbar hives. I got my bees this year (just one package) and they took off after chewing out the queen. I think they didn't find the honey left out for them but I am being told that kind of hive docent work on the front range. Does anyone have a successful topbar or warre hive on the front range? I am a tree hugger and would like to do something more natural for the bees. But I will do what works.

alfred · July 08, 2011, 08:57:44 PM

I don't do them but I know of several people who do.
Check out http://www.backyardhive.com/ they are located in Eldorado Springs, Co.

Alfred

Danger Brown · July 08, 2011, 11:00:26 PM

I'm in very South East Colorado and getting started with topbars too. Did they give you any reasons why they claim topbars don't work on the front range?

Grizzly8119 · July 09, 2011, 11:26:13 AM

I was told that because the bees need to draw out their own comb that they don't have enough time to collect nectar from the plants during the nectar flow from our short growing season. But honestly it docent sound right to me because wild bees exist here and they have to do both.

Danger Brown · July 09, 2011, 11:49:34 AM

It's not quite the same as feral bees because you'll be doing crush and strain. The feral bees get to use their honey stores and save the empty comb for next year. The empty comb is an advantage.

Boom Buzz · July 09, 2011, 02:21:57 PM

I have a couple of top bar hives that I have not used yet. I got them from a friend who converted to Langstroth.
His TBHs did great the first year. He bought two packages. They built up nicely. He even got a great harvest the first year from one of the hives, while leaving ample stores for the winter. However he lost both colonies over the first winter. I think the bees froze to death due to his design (on 3 foot tall legs) and he did not use a divider to damper down the space to make it easier for the bees to keep themselves warm. There is plenty of nectar and a sufficient growing season for the bees to thrive and to harvest some honey too.

I will use these TBHs as auxiliary hives when I run out of Langstroth hives however I will not use the legs and I will reduce the hive space in the fall to give the bees fighting chance to survive.

As for having to draw out comb each year - this should not be a problem. The brood comb and stores comb will be reusable each year. The harvested honey/comb will need to be replaced each year - but if you are located near a good nectar source this should be a problem.

John

You would also want to supplement the natural nectar sources with sugar syrup spring through fall as needed. This help alot in comb production and building winter stores.

Boom Buzz · July 10, 2011, 12:46:15 AM

Another thought on this Grizzly, Where are you located, and what is the altitude? I am 40 miles north of Denver at about 5200 feet. If you are higher up in elevation then the season would likely be shorter and more of a problem...

John

Grizzly8119 · July 11, 2011, 12:10:05 PM

Well actually I'm in canon city and there is literally an orchard a pasture away so I'm prettysure I have enough nectar. I had also heard about people loosing their hives in the winter as well but I did build my hives with a divider. I was just thinking about the warre hives being a bit more better with the combo of langestroth and tbh.