Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[trekmate]

[orchard]

[Barbara]

That all sounds very positive and I hope you don't have any cross combing and it all goes smoothly.
In my opinion, having good comb guides is the most important part of top bar beekeeping, so that you give yourself and the bees the best chance of straight comb on the bars.
If there is cross comb, then trying to realign it or even just inspect it at this early stage is a bad decision and I think that is perhaps why I am wary of such a new top bar colony being inspected.
I would want the knowledge/guarantee that the inspector was prepared to walk away and come back next year when the comb is more stable and could be corrected without too much risk, but my guess is that having come to inspect it, they will go ahead anyway.

I do not want to appear negative towards seasonal bee inspectors.... quite the contrary, as I have previously stated, I am very much in favour but I doubt it is in their remit to leave a visit without inspecting the one and only hive they have come to look at, because it is cross combed. It is one thing having an experienced top bar beekeeper like yourself, John, show an inspector their hive and another altogether for a novice beek to have an inspector open their hive and perhaps suffer comb collapse because they didn't have enough experience to know that now is not a good time to fix things.

[trekmate]

[orchard]

[Lacewing]

Congratulations Orchard, with your bait hive success!

- As far as inspections go, my bees have been inspected for the last 3 years due to local outbreaks of AFB and EFB. The inspections have been entirely useful as far as I'm concerned. The inspector is more used to TBHs now anyway, and has of course years of experience with bees generally and is caaaaalm too (unlike me!) and helpful.

I suspect it's Warre owners, rather than horizontal TBH owners, who're more nervous about inspections these days and therefore wary of Beebase. Maybe for this reason alone we should start using the Warre at the association apiary here. - As far as I know, in North Wales, owners and inspectors manage their Warre inspections alright.

[orchard]

Thanks Trekmate and Lacewing!
It's been quite a steep learning curve pushing to get established this year as opposed to next, and on a DIY budget. Still a fair way to go before I can concentrate purely on the bees themselves rather than the other elements, but thankfully, so far, everything's going well, and that a low-tech, non-dependant approach is possible from scratch. Thanks are due to all the posters on here for your kind hhelp and support This may transfer well to community woodland, orchard and allotment groups...
Cheers
Nick

[Barbara]

Yes, if there is cross comb, it is better to transfer the bars as a block rather than individually. You can screw a couple of laths across the top bars so that they are secured together and then lift the whole lot, being careful to release any comb attachment first. I find a bait hive that has a demountable back (screwed but not glued) is really helpful in these situations, but obviously that's too late for you now. Once you have transferred them, use a straightener board ( a follower with a 6 inch diameter hole in it, or a short (3-4 inch) follower board to try to get them going straight again.
Early spring time is the easiest time to sort out the cross comb. At the moment it is soft and floppy and full of heavy nectar and brood and trying to handle it once it is cut free of the bars and reattach it just becomes a sticky mess with bees sticking to your hands and drowning and getting crushed on the comb as you handle it and often, the means you use to reattach it (cable ties, hair clasps etc) just pull through and the comb drops either straight away or after you close up as bees cluster back on it. Obviously there is a risk of damaging the queen when there is such a mess.

By early spring the comb has had several generations of brood in it, so it is much more robust and stable. Most of the honey will have been eaten and what's left may be crystalline which also gives it rigidity and there is very little brood in it. Sometimes, if it is not completely cross combed along the whole bar, the deviated bit can be cut away from the bar and gently bent back into line and will actually support itself until the bees reattach it. I can't emphasise how much easier it is and less traumatic for both you and the bees. You need to do it before the first real nectar flow though.

Prevention is by far the better option though and good comb guides, which you appear to have, are the key, so hopefully you won't experience any problems like that and your inspection will be a very positive one, as all of mine have been.

[orchard]

Thanks Barbara, very useful information
Fingers crossed for Tuesday...
Nick

[orchard]

Just an update as promised

Thankfully the inspection went well, the colony's in good health and disease free and of fantastic nature, they had been rather busy and had almost filled all ten bars with brood, including a blank bar at the back, all straight/none cross-combed and the transfer to the main hive was straight forward. So feeling very happy and fortunate, as I couldn't have hoped for better, and pleased I can concentrate on the bees now

The Seasonal Inspector was absolutely fantastic, I couldn't praise him more highly, and further, showed a keen interest and sensitivity towards TBH's and Natural Beekeeping ! He's coming back later in the season to see how they're getting on and observe their behaviour, as he's keen to assess the difference between the habits of TBH colonies and those inhabiting other forms of artificial hive.

[Barbara]

Brilliant news!
So pleased it went well and delighted that the bee inspector was sensitive to TBH issues and interested in Natural Beekeeping. As I've previously stated, I've learned a lot from seasonal bee inspectors in the past but that was with framed hives. It's great to hear that your experience with a TBH inspection was equally beneficial.

[trekmate]

The times they are a'changin'!

[Lacewing]

It sounds as though your bees, and you, are off to a great start! - So cheering to see and read about it. Thanks for posting pics too.

[AugustC]

Really glad it has all worked out for you. You seem to have got yourself a very industrious little colony there. Best of luck

[orchard]