Today the maximum temperature outside was 9°C. It was also a rainy day, as a result the bees didn't fly out at all.
I have an answer to my previous question: 'can I split the 6-frame nucleus and make 2 hives'. In short: It's too risky with only 3 frames so early in the year. (Low temperatures and brood that needs to be heated)
In a local store (much like a home depot) I found a 'vegetable garden table' (see picture below)
that was on sale due to it being broken (no glass panels in it) I payed 55 EURO for it and am going to transform it into a TopBar Hive that can fit my Zander frames.
I'll use sheets of insulation to help the bees with climate control. I'll need to cut up the board you see in this picture, but I should have plenty since I have 2 of these panels at my disposal.
In the first picture you can already spot the first changes I made to the (soon to be) TopBar Hive. The bottom were planks much like the sides, I have placed 3 panels on top of that made out of wood fiber. I had to make some cutouts to make the boards fit and I don't have that much equipment at home. I used a hand-saw and a drill to cut out the panels out of one sheet and to take away the nooks and crannies. The boards aren't perfect, but I hope the bees will propolise the entire space and fit it to their needs.Next in this project will be
- the cutting and fitting of the insulation sheets (to make sure my frames fit).
- Drilling in an enterance for the bees. (thinking of doing that in one of the sides or maybe the back, but not sure yet) The back will be close to a wall so that might not be ideal. I am sure I want to avoid a hole in the middle. Winter storages should be all on one side without me having to rearrange the order of the frames (or topbars). Since bees tend to keep the brood closer to the enterance of the hive I also want my enterance near the side rather than in the middle. But this is TBD.
- Finding a solution for the mixed use of topbars and frames. As I think top bars sit snug against each other and the bees can't come up near the lid of the hive (I need to do further reasearch here too).
- Find a solution to keep the hive weather proof. Now there are 2 roof-pieces that open through hinges. 3-4 might come in one answer, but as it stands I'm more inclined to put a sheet of plastic or gauze on top of the bars and more insulation fixed to the two lids and then put an outer cover over the hive to protect it from weather.
- Study more on the subject of Top Bar Hives to make further improvements!
Bob Out
