Nothing personal, Olea, but your hive is causing me tsoris. Although the philosophy behind top bar hives is compelling, the actual management is far from easy.
Top bars are supposedly more natural because the bees build comb without a frame or foundation. Old wax is not reused, which is better for the bees. They do not require any lifting of boxes heavy with honey and stay at a workable level. Many of them have windows allowing for observation without opening the hive. They are less expensive and are easy to build. Yes, this is, and more, is all true. However....
Inspecting the hive is exponentially more work than inspecting a Langstroth. Each comb must have any attachments to the wall cut free. Some of the cells thereby cut are filled with honey. Soon there is honey all over the hive tool and my hands. And of course, the tool and my hands become covered with bees. Despite best efforts, a bee or two or three will get pinched and reflexively sting me unless I wear my clumsy leather gloves. (Two stings today, both on my right ring finger.) Bees get caught in the honey and die. It is difficult to treat for varroa. (At least with what I already have; oxalic acid is supposed to work.) Bees get squished while freeing the comb. Bees get squished when replacing the bars. And I have yet to harvest any honey from this hive.
Olea's hive has 22 bars. I inspected it today. I want to see the brood area, which is on bars ~3-12. However, I have to start at 22 and move down one bar at a time. That's at least 10 bars that need to be moved just to get started with the inspection. And each bar has to be freed and moved down. The bees are getting more and more agitated because of all the freed honey.
Today I only got to bar 10 and never saw the center of the brood area. I did find a large number of drones and drone brood on frame 14. There was worker brood with a good pattern on frame 10, and when I saw that, I decided I had had enough for the day.
So, Olea, whenever you want to take your hive back, let me know.
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