HORIZONTAL HIVE INFO
How to Manage
How to Split
How to Consolidate
How to Inspect
How to Install Packages & NUCS
How to Adapt
How to Manage a Flex Hive
How to Cut
How To Assemble
The "Les-Is-More" Horizontal Top-Bar Hive Plans:
FREE HIVE BOX PLANS:
The "Les-Is-More" Horizontal Top-Bar NUC BOX Plans:
FREE NUC BOX PLANS:
WATCH OUR FRIENDS BUILD THEM!
Nathalie B. assembling hives on a Texas roof:
Our friend Darin filmed a video on how to assemble the hive body and the underside legs for 3-in-1 hives:
Our friend Duane filmed a video on how to assemble the hive body and the underside legs for 3-in-1 hives:
This is what the hive looks with our "HINGED ROOF":
(we simply used two pieces of 2x4s cut at a 30 degree angle and attached the lid to them with roofing screws)
This is what the hive looks like with our "DELUXE ROOF":
(dimensions for the top of the hexagon are the same as those for the bottom of the hexagon, except the top one is made up of 2x4s)
How to repair cross combing with repair bars:
(Video technique + how to make the repair bars)
Why build (or buy) a Bee Mindful Top-Bar HiveTM?
In 1985, Les Crowder had been beekeeping professionally for already over 20 years, using heavy commercial Langstroth hives.
Tired of the back breaking lifting, the endless equipment building/transporting/storing, and the flimsy, expensive cumbersome frames used in those, he decided to use an ancient concept to design his very own horizontal frameless hive so that it was cheap, simple to make/assemble, and easy to manage. The Les Crowder Top-Bar HiveTM was born.
With over 35 years of field testing building and managing his no-nonsense top-bar hives, he partnered with Nathalie B. to revisit and refine his original concept for a truly no-fuss, simple, budget savvy version that respects the natural angles of hexagonal cells (30 degree) and the catenary curve the bees naturally follow when building comb, while making the hives super simple, cheap and easy to manage, turning it into the People's Hive Of The Future: the “Bee Mindful Top-Bar HiveTM” was born.
This Top-Bar Hive features standard 20in” bars that have the tremendous advantage to feature longer comb attachment surface and shallower depth than 17” TBH, which means a higher center of gravity for the combs and much less risk of honey heavy comb collapsing in the heat. They also seem to better promote bee health.
The elegance of this hive resides in its utmost simplicity, accessibility to all, and versatility (can you say double, triple top-bar hive? Langstroth to TBH conversion? Maximum airflow? High customization options? Increased insulation and thermal mass?)
95% of Beekeepers in the US are backyard/homestead beekeepers that do not need to keep their bees the way commercial beekeepers do, and have the luxury to use a more robust, easier to manage hive (commercial hives are best for migratory beekeepers to stack and transport on semi-trailer beds to pollination contracts).
Today, Bee Mindful, LLC provides these free plans for stationary heavy duty top-bar hives so everyone somewhat crafty can make them at home with basic materials, tools and woodworking skills: it only takes a few simple cuts, 5 parts and 30 bars, a few screws and very little time to make.
COMING SOON: our detailed Easy-Peasy Lang to TBH adapter hives (4-in-1 TBH) (see an intro above)