Practical beekeeping - straight combs in top-bar hives

Foundation strips for straight combs in top-bar hives

Wyatt A Mangum, Mary Washington College, 1301 College Avenue, Fredericksburg VA 22401, USA

Keywords: beeswax, colony management, honeycomb, saw kerf, wax dipper

Combs that are built parallel and straight make hive inspections easier: checking that the queen is laying eggs, or for the presence of pests and diseases is made easier with straight combs. Straight combs are also essential for enabling beekeepers to move combs of brood or honey from strong colonies to weak or starving colonies to save them, or to divide strong colonies.

With top-bar hives, wooden comb guides (either wood strips or “V” shaped wedges) have a reputation for not giving straight combs, particularly those wooden comb guides that are in the honey comb area and away from the brood nest. From my studies of USA beekeeping history, beekeepers used these wooden comb guides during the 1870-1890s before foundation sheets became common. Even then, beekeepers complained about wooden comb guides causing crooked combs.

Current day

I manage 200 top-bar hives and need an additional 500-700 top-bars so therefore cannot accommodate a third of new combs being built crooked. All the straight combs in Figures 1 and 2 are typical. To ensure straight combs I use foundation strips as the starter to ensure the precise placement of combs on the top-bars (Figure 3). Besides telling the bees where they must build the comb, foundation strips tend to stop the bees from bulging the top of the honeycomb into the space meant for the next comb (because the next foundation strip is there). Wooden comb guides do not stop the bees from bulging the top of the honeycomb into the space for the next comb (because nothing is under the edge of the next comb guide, just open space). When the bees finish building combs from the foundation strips, the combs are straight, centred on the top-bars, and the upper honeycomb bands are the same thickness. These combs are interchangeable among all hives for management: similar to frame hive management, but with much less expensive top-bar equipment.

Figure 1: A new comb in a top-bar hive built straight and centred on its top-bar

Photos © Wyatt Mangum

Figure 2: Old brood comb from a top-bar hive built straight and centred on its top-bar. This comb and the one in Figure 1 will fit any of the author’s hives

Figure 3: The inside of a top-bar hive looking up at the foundation strips. When there is a nectar flow (for comb construction), the bees build their comb straight from these strips: not ignoring them as they may with wooden comb guides and then start building crooked comb

The top-bars are flat underneath with a saw kerf (a groove the width of the saw blade) cut down the centre of the bar 1/8 inch (0.32 cm) deep. The foundation strip goes into this groove (Figure 4). The length of the foundation strip depends on the size of the top-bar hive. Do not let the strips touch the sides of the hive as that would encourage the bees to attach the comb to the hive. Let the strip end about 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) from the sides of the hive. Where foundation is scarce, try a 1 inch wide (2.54 cm) strip, but be cautious about making the strips less than 1 inch (2.54 cm). Strips that are too narrow cannot stop the bees from bulging a honeycomb into the space for the next comb: crooked combs would be expected from such narrow foundation strips – width is important.

Figure 4: Putting in foundation strips. The saw kerfs (grooves) to the left take the foundation strips

Figure 5: A close up of the foundation strip and top-bar junction with the melted wax bead appearing as a welder’s seam. The welder’s seam or bead should run along the entire length of the foundation strip and on both sides

Properly attaching the foundation strips to the top-bars is extremely important. When the bees are building the combs, the cluster hangs from the foundation strip so its attachment to the top-bar must be strong. Use melted beeswax to attach foundation strips to the top-bars (not paraffin or other waxes). Specifically a line of melted beeswax needs to run down the groove, melting the foundation into the groove. The line of melted beeswax on both sides of the foundation strip, should weld it into the groove with wax (Figure 5).

Melt the wax in a double boiler, (the wax not directly heated by a flame) or with a water jacket (Figure 6). These methods are the proper way to melt wax because melted beeswax is flammable. (Note: always melt wax outdoors away from animals and children.) Cut the foundation sheets into strips using a piece of wood as a straight edge to keep a knife straight. Warm the knife near a heat source to make cutting the strips easier, but do not get the blade too hot because it will melt the foundation too much. A pair of knives works well, cutting with one while the other warms near the heat. Three or four sheets of foundation can be cut at one time and the strips separated before the melted edges cool (Figure 7).

Figure 6: A pair of double boilers on hot plates melting wax: note the double handles, one to the water container and one to the wax container. Turn the handles away from the work area to help prevent accidental spilling. Behind the boilers is a sloping board for attaching foundation strips to the top-bars with melted wax: note the white strip of wood to hold the top-bars on the slope and the excess wax in the catch trough, which can be put back in the boilers

Figure 7: Separating the foundation strips before the edges cool too much

Put the foundation strips in to the top-bar grooves, keeping them away from the ends of the bars where the strip could touch the sides of the hive. Put about 12 top-bars on a sloped board with a bracket at the lower side to keep the top-bars from sliding off the board (Figure 8). To make sure the bead of melted wax touches the foundation and the top-bar as the wax runs along the bar (in the direction of the board), lift the end of the sloped board to force the melted wax bead against the foundation strips. Pour the melted wax down the grooves, attaching the sides of the foundation strips to the top-bars. With the board sloped from the side and the end, the wax bead flows along a little trough with the top-bar on one side and the foundation strip on the other side. It looks like Figure 9.

When finished, let down the end of the sloped board and tilt it from the other end. Pour the wax bead down the grooves attaching the foundation strips to the top-bars on the other side of the strips. Make sure the bead of melted wax touches the foundation and the top-bar as the wax runs along each bar. Pieces of foundation strips can be fitted together in the grooves (Figure 10), but do not leave gaps between them. The wax will run across the top-bars, and the bees will leave holes in the comb between the pieces.

Figure 8: Presentation by the author showing the sloped board tilted from the side and from the end. Tilting the board from the side (marked by the number one and the black arrow) makes the melted wax run down the bar. Tilting the board from the end (marked by the number two and the white arrow) makes the melted wax run against the foundation strip and top-bar in a trough similar to Figure 9

Figure 9: Lifting the end of the sloped board makes the wax run down a little trough. The wax runs against the foundation strip and top-bar, sealing the two together, as the wax goes down the top-bar. With the end lifted, the bead of wax cannot slip off the foundation strip as when only the side of the sloped board is lifted

Figure 10: Piecing foundation strips together in a groove and keeping them close together

Figure 11: The author’s homemade wax dipper made from a small soda bottle. For the dipper size, bigger is not really better because some of the wax hardens before it gets poured. Beekeepers must customise their own dippers from local materials, and perhaps this one can be a starting point

For a wax pouring spout, use the bottom of a small plastic soda bottle, warmed near heat to form a spout. Cut a small slit in the spout and put a knotted string in it to guide the melted wax down the string and onto the foundation strip and top-bar contact junction. The handle is a little flat stick (Figure 11).

Be careful not to break foundation strips because bees can use partly broken strips. For foundation strips with some broken out, put the top-bar between unbroken foundation strips or between straight combs in the hive. The unbroken foundation strips or straight combs help to keep the comb straight over the place with the broken-out foundation strip.

With the method described in this article, the top-bars and their grooves are easier to cut than the “V” top-bars. The outcome is better bee management with straight combs and more productive colonies.

To see my top-bar hive apiaries visit www.tbhsbywam.com

Acknowledgment

The author thanks Suzanne Sumner for her comments on the manuscript.

More articles on top-bar hive beekeeping at www.beesfordevelopment.org/portal

Top-Bar Hive Beekeeping: wisdom and pleasure combined by the author. Reviewed in BfDJ 106 and available for purchase at www.beesfordevelopment.org/catalog