appropriate design of
ar top-b hives
by Kwame S
Aidoo
B&D’s Correspondent INTRODUCTION
in
Ghana
n many parts of tropical Africa, the top-bar hive seems to be the most appropriate tool for harnessing the great potential of African bees. Critics of the top-bar hive focus their argument around the fact that honeycombs built by the bees are destroyed completely during honey extraction. This means that unlike frame hives, the top-bar combs are not returned to the bees for re-use.
The appropriateness of top-bar hive beekeeping in Africa and other areas of the tropics can be explained as follows: *
*
African beekeeping has evolved around the production of beeswax, a very important product in external trade. Honey has sometimes been regarded as a secondary product and used extensively for brewing alcoholic beverages (Ntenga and Mugongo 1991). Modern beekeeping in Africa therefore puts two products, honey and beeswax, on the market. This is made possible through the use of top-bar hives.
moa *
*
Horizontal nest arrangements offer better means of temperature regulation for bees under hot and humid tropical conditions.
Other supportive equipment is
a
in
simple and
top-bar beekeeping easily available to the beekeeper. *
Traditional beekeepers can easily adapt to the simple but effective methods of management using
top-bar hives.
In recent times the widespread use by The side to side arrangement of the rural communities of top-bar hives means they have received critical top-bars offer an effective way of examination. Studies have re-examined controlling the defensive African bees during colony manipulation. The space the original design as exemplified by the created by removing two top-bars is Kenya top-bar hive. all the beekeeper needs to control the Between 1992 and 1994, about the bees. He or she can go through the same time as the studies at Niiro entire hive removing one comb at a Wildlife Research Centre in Tanzania time and then placing it at the other (described in BR&D49) were taking side of the space. place,| investigated top-bar hive design. Construction of top-bar hives is My research was funded by the International Foundation for Science, simple and can be at minimum cost
when locally available materials are used.
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A Bees
Sweden. My studies critically examined the following:
for Development publication
KWAME AIDOO
tases
Top-bar width To determine whether the top-bar width of 32 mm as used for the West African bee (Apis mellifera adansonii) was appropriate, the comb-to-comb spacing of 20 feral colonies was examined.
Nest volume Cavities of 20 wild nesting colonies in southern Ghana were measured towards finding an appropriate hive volume.
Side walls of hives To investigate the comb attachment to the side walls of top-bar hives, trials were made with hives with sides sloping at 0°, [5° and 25° to the vertical.
Hive construction with local materials Designs using cheap and locally available bamboo, clay, oil palm fronds and raffia were tested.
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