Natural Beekeeping

Top Bar ApiRevolution has begun! Lets make some inexpensive Top Bar Hives and let them be pesticide free on their own natural comb! Che Guebee is a rebel bee fighting for the survival of the Biodiversity we all depend on and which is seriously endangered by deforestation and mono-crop agriculture! What kind of teaching have you got if you exclude nature?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Bait/Nucleus Top Bar Hive Finished

This (12 top bars) hive will be used both as a bait and a nucleus hive. It has a top entrance with a plastic lock which can be closed so to transport the bees. The lock position has small holes for aeration.
I will fasten a chicken wire behind the entrance so to keep birds away from nesting into the bait hive.
 open lock above and closed lock beneath for hive transport so bees can fly out yet can get sufficient air (short distances only)
I have made some propolis tincture and painted a bit of itto all my hives so to add as much of hive smell as possible. Another lure will be wax on the top bars as comb guides and Lemongrass Essential Oil to mimic Nasonov Pheromone. If there are wild swarms out there they will find this hive irresistible ;)

2 comments:

  1. I think its good if you write down the reciept of the tinktur here.

    I realy like your solutions around the entrance. Thanks for very good ideas :-)

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    1. Its simply propolis dust mixed in alcohol and left for a month or two to disolve. I will not use this method anymore. Instead i place propolis into a plastic container and heat it in a microwave until the propolis melts, then immediatelly apply to the hive walls or the cracks in the wall.

      Cheers!

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