The Top Bar Honey Cow

The honey cow is standing on its own legs now. No honey in it though! This hive will not house the colonies I  intend to buy in May but rather it will house one of the splits from those colonies in Jun.
The legs make a huge diference when working the hive. No need for bending the back here :) Great!

 Legs secured to the hive body with bolts

Thanks to the tall legs this hive is very ergonomic. Even those with back pain can manipulate this hive

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4th Long Horizontal Top Bar Hive

The garage is starting to be very crowded! Bee hives all over the place ;) I have begun to construct the 4th long horizontal TBH. This timber is 30mm tick.

 Top bars ripped and placed. I rip all top bars to 450mm long and 38mm wide so I can easily exchange it between all my hives.

 The horrifying top entrance! Many beeks seem terrified with top entrances saying that it lets the warmth out of the hive yet most try to make a top ventilation hole coupled with the bottom entrance which is causing VENTILATION !!! I dont think bees prefer ventilation! Top entrance helps contain all the natural occuring acid fumes from nectar gathering and it helps release excess condensation (especially during winter)

Bees dont heat the hive they heat the cluster. What they need is a solid wind break (tick wood) and relatively dry space. Top entrance provides this in my opinion.

I dont think this german skepist would have top entrance on ALL ;) his skeps ;) if they dont work well!

Photo from biobees

Pallet Bounty

I went grocery shopping today and by "accident" (or destiny LOL) I drove the car the wrong way. This led me to take the next exit ... but then something happened ... as if something was calling to me ... instead of taking left I turned right into a small street. There I saw workers building something, and THERE IT WAS !!! :) Lots of wooden pallets thrown aside of the road. I stopped the car and went to ask the foreman if I could take them and he generously showed me thumbs up :D

The pallet size was odd. Much wider and longer than the "normal" size EUR pallets. There was no way to put them into the car as they were. I checked the IPPC seal and it showed HT which stands for Heat Treated. This made me happy since I dont want to use pallets treated with pesticides.

And because Im always on the lookout for pallets I keep in my car a small sledge hammer and a hand saw. I usually need the sledge hammer to knock away the pallet legs. Without the legs I can put more pallets into the car. This time I even needed the hand saw to cut the pallet lenght.

I have filled the car with pallet wood, as much as I could fit. There are still some left behind. I think I need a bigger car ... or a horse ;)
What a great bounty! This defenetly payed off the grocery shopping :)

All Hives got a Roof on Top of their Bars

Video update;

Raw wool as hive insulation

Someone threw away lots of raw wool into the near by forest which I pass every day with my dog. Of course I was not lazy to go back home and get a bag and collect some of it. Wool is a perfect insulation for bee hives, both to insulate the roof above the cluster and in case of doubble walled hives. So I stuffed the one hive which has a doubble wall;

One can see the wool through the window from inside the hive

Che Guebee Apiary Propolis Salve

I have made another salve. This time from propolis, top bar bees wax and organic olive oil.
230g Organic Olive Oil
  30g Bees Wax
  2 Table spoons of finely poulverised Propolis
Mix bees wax and olive oil until liquid but do not exceed 60'C. Then simmer in the propolis slowly mix for a few minutes than wait until all the bigger particles fall to the bottom (a few minutes) and slowly start pouring the salve into the containers through a very fine tea colander. Not much of the propolis ends up in the salve so I wonder if another method is required to desolve the propolis (propolis tincture?)