Bees for Development Journal
Web forum Working with top-bar hives www.beesfordevelopment.org/ forums.shtml Previous articles A frame for the top-bar hive BfD Journal 35 For the beekeeper's own convenience it does not matter what width is chosen as long as the hive is big enough and all the hives belonging to the beekeeper are the same. He/she will still gain the benefits of being able to exchange combs between hives quite freely. However, when a beekeeper comes to sell hives these will attract a lower price if they are of nonstandard sizes because they will not fit another person's hives. This is why.a national standard should be chosen and adhered to.
Hive length The length of the hive is not particularly critical. What it should relate to is the width of the top-bar which in turn is a function of the bee space. Thus, if the top-bar width is 32 mm the hive length should be 32 mm multiplied by the
number of combs desired. For example, if 25 combs are specified then the correct hive length should be (32 x 25) mm = 800 mm (80 cm} have noticed, for instance, in some top-bar hive plans that the length specified is 90 cm and the number of combs is 28. This does not quite fit as (32 x 28) mm = 896 mm (89.6 cm) which leaves a 4 mm gap for ants or other undesirables to get in. It should be noted that hive measurements are best expressed as internal measurements especially when using local materials for the hive. This allows for different thicknesses of material to be accommodated without having to change the specifications. |
Short hives can be very useful as swarm catcher hives.
Happy Beekeeping!
LOOK AHEAD COSTA RICA APIMONDIA Symposium on Tropical Beekeeping: research and development for pollination and conservation 22-25 February 2004 Further details: |sanchez@una.ac.cr ETHIOPIA Ath Annual Conference of the Ethiopian Beekeepers’ Association 9-12 June 2003, Addis Ababa Further details: mmoa4@telecom.net.et
GERMANY APIMONDIA Symposium: diagnosis of
bee diseases eet 7-8 October 2004. Feaibsity Further dete“!s:” wv.w..2eepathology.com
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APIMONDIA Symposium: Prevention of residues in honey
28-29 May 2004, Celle Further details: www.beepathology.com
INDIA International Workshop: Sustainable Beekeeping Development and All India Honey Festival (Apiexhi 2003) 6-10 October 2003, Bangalore Further details: jenureddy@yahoo.co.in
BFD Journal 38 Top-bar hives in the USA BfD Journal 58 Videos
Beekeeping in development. Price 28.80 €43.20 (Code VID16) How to manage the African bee in top-bar hives. Price 22.90 €34.40 Code VIDO5) How to order? See page 15
LEARN AHEAD ITALY European Conference of Apidology
KENYA -
EurBee
19-23 September 2004, Udine Further details: web.uniud.it/eurbee/
PHILIPPINES 7th Asian Apicultural Association
Conference 23-27 February 2004, Los Bafios Further details:
www.tamagawa.ac.jp/sisetu/gakujutu/ honey/aaa/aaa-eng.him RUSSIA Intermiod 2003: 4th Exhibition and Conference on Beekeeping
3-7th September 2003, Moscow Further details: expostroy@expostroy.ru
SLOVENIA APIMONDIA International Apicultural Congress 24-29 August 2003, Ljubljana Further details: www.apimondia2003.com XXXVII|
UNITED KINGDOM National Honey Show 13-15 November 2003, London Further details see page 15 Visit the Bees for Development stand!
you want notice of your conference, workshop or meeting to be included here send details to Bees for Development, Troy, Monmouth, NP25 4AB, UK E-mail info@beesfordevelopment.org Hf
Better beekeeping in top-bar hives BfD Journal 66 Don't fiddle with the top-bar hive BED Journal 36 Facts about "a frame for the top-bar hive" BfD Journal 39 Queen rearing in top-bar hives BID Journal 33 Successful harvesting from top-bar hives BfD Journal 49 Sugar feeding using a top-bar feeder
Beekeeping short courses July, September 2003, Molo Further details: baraka@net2000ke.com
NETHERLANDS Educational Exhibition on Beekeeping for Rural Development 1-17 August 2003, Amsterdam Further details: micha_el@dds.nl and see Notice Board (page 11) PHILIPPINES Rural Development and Management 16 June - 11 July 2003, Cavite Further details: www.iirr.org
UK Forest and Certification Summer Training Programme 7-11 July 2003, Oxford Further details: www.proforest.net
UNITED KINGDOM/TANZANIA Beekeeping in Rural Development Training Course Further details from Bees for Development
USA EAS 2003 Short Course and Conference 4-7 August 2003, Brunswick ME Further details:
www.easternapiculture.org
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