Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[bentonkb]

Quite a few people have commented on the problem of having a long hive full of frames and how it causes problems when you pull of the top and the bees all come rushing up between them. I think that I've found a good solution to that problem.

In my case I had a Lang deep that had a colony in it on some top bars and some frames. I moved them into a 32 bar TTBH, which then had mostly top bars with a few frames mixed in. Of course, the gaps between the frames were right above the brood nest, so removing the top exposed the most critical part of the hive and bothered the bees. All I did to fix the situation was lay a piece of fiberglass window screen over the entire hive before I put the lid on. It is pinned in place with four thumbtacks to keep it lined up as the lid goes on and off.

The bees coated the mesh with propolis to adjust the ventilation to their liking, but it still comes off easily. I just keep one end pinned in place so that the sticky spots will line up the way they want them when I put it back. To open the hive I unpin one end and roll the mesh back to expose the bars that I want to pull out and reverse the process before closing up.

I think that the system would work nearly as well for a long hive that was all frames. It might be best to use three shorter pieces instead of one long piece in that case so that a small section of the hive could be exposed without disturbing the rest. I don't intend to use a lot of frames, but it is nice knowing that I can buy a nuc next spring and just drop it into my TBH without worry. It might be nice to use frames and rubber bands to transfer a cut-out if I ever have the need for that, too. I've never done one myself, but I'd like to.