Just got back from the President of the Bee club.
Lovely folks! The ACT is so lucky to have them. They saw my top bar hive and I gave them a first hand demonstration of preparing a top bar by waxing string to the bar.
In no time at all I was done with every bar and then smiled as next club meeting it is "How to build your own frames for a Langstroth Hive" -- That will be a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of wood used and when done a huge amount of wax compared to the small amount I dribbled on the string.
They kindly gave me two chunks of waste wax for free because it was so small. It still had propolis and some trapped honey. The honey was lovely, amazing how different than the store. You know I sucked it out!
After getting back I spent the afternoon cutting the decking in half to make each individual top bar.
Then I waxed the string onto them with a soldering iron.
OMG Trent! The smells of hot beeswax and left over honey being atomised by the hot soldering iron... My Shed was so full of beeswax and sweet honey smells that speaking as a Mead brewer, I had to leave the shed because I was getting excited!
Dave so has to try this.. I am so going to be making heaps of natural bees wax candles for the house when I'm harvesting. The smell is just amazing! Its like brewing Mead but 100 times more potent and yummy!
Anyway before I get carried away. Back to ground level to tell O'Henry, Trent, and everyone else that you should go down to your outdoors store and ask for the "Mosquito Electric Zapper Thing" a small Piezo-Electric device just like your BBQ Ignition device that you electrocute in a split second any mosquito bite or BEE STING.
People who are VERY allergic to bees and swell up bad have used this device and had ZERO swelling or reaction like they normally did. It works really well! The president of the bee club showed me theirs and it is just like a BBQ starter but fits in your pocket and has a neck string.
Ok photo time.
I finished off almost 2 1/2 stacked rows of top bars. I was not planning on having 3 Long Hives and 2 Swarm Hives so I may need to get some more wood to rip into brood bars.
Rows and Rows of Top Bars already waxed and stringed. I did all this in a few hours. Lost count how many bars but I'd hate to try and make that many Langstroth Frames in as little time
Close up of the bars so you can see how you don't need to be neat or take forever being a precision freak. The bees won't care either way.
Left over chunk of wax. I only used a chunk this wide and about 2/3rd or less of a top bar length (10" or so long?) Of non-solid wax that had hollow pockets to do all these bars! Imagine how much would need to be melted to make a full foundation for each frame in a traditional hive.
Note that these are ALL brood bars.
I will have to go to Home Depot and pick up some of those other 41mm wide hardwood bars to use as Honey Bars. Once I make a whole bunch of those honey bars up I will rip some more decking bars.
I am planning on 2/3rds of each hive in Brood Bars and 1/3rd in Honey Bars. I may get very productive queen so one hive might be all brood bars.
Once the bottom Kenyan hives are full I plan on adding some supers, boxes full of honey bar wide top bars and completely square so large giant bars of pure honey will be made if the season goes great this year for nectar flow!
I am so loving this! Great hobby especially for a brewer and someone who loves their Mead.
Cheers,
Brewer Pete
