Deciding on a Hive Design

When I decided to keep bees this past winter, I really knew nothing about them. Since I haven't any practical experience yet, I can safely say that I still don't know much. However, after tons of reading, classes, and Youtube videos, I know just enough to know how much I don't know.

Isn't this a pretty beeyard? Look at those sunny Langstroth hives.
http://daily-survival.blogspot.com/2011/02/anatomy-of-honeybee-hive.html

One of the things that I find really interesting is how many types of hives there are. I'd always thought that Langstroth hives (those towering boxes one sees) were the only type currently in use, but how wrong I was! There are all kinds of hives, including woven skeps, Perone hives, Warre hives, Kenyan and Tanzanian top bar hives, traditional Japanese hives, and possibly my favorite design -- the sun hive which is like a skep on steroids.

I love this TBH!
 http://www.themelissagarden.com

Through research, I narrowed my choices down to a Langstroth hive with foundationless frames or a Kenyan top bar hive (KTBH) because I want to raise small cell size bees. It doesn't hurt that both designs are legal in Connecticut! After much careful consideration, though, I finally settled on KTBHs.

Inside a TBH
http://www.sustainlife.org/blog/tag/top-bar-hive/

Like me, I've found that many people have never heard of this hive design. I've gotten lots of questions about it, so I thought I'd post a quick overview of my decision-making process. (Talk about the blind leading the blind!) This table outlines some of my considerations.

	Langstroth (with foundationless frames)	KTBH	Winner (for me anyway)
Bee Health	From what I've read, using commercial foundation in hives (which is what most people have), can make them more susceptible to varroa mites due to the large cell size. However, this would not be an issue with foundationless frames. Wax can be reused over and over, though, which may lead to an accumulation of toxins.	The natural cell size seems to help control varroa mites. Wax is harvested along with the honey so that bees constantly draw fresh wax that doesn't have a chance to accumulate toxins. From what I've heard, there are fewer reports of colony collapse disorder (CCD) as well.	Almost a draw. But I give the KTBH the edge.
Disruption to hive	When you open a super, you basically open the whole hive at once. It seems very disruptive to suddenly change the temperature, lighting, etc. when they're nesting so cozily. Also, I'm not sure how keen I am on the idea of being faced with 60,000 bees all at once.	One inspects a single bar at a time. The rest of the hive is kept closed. This seems a much less invasive approach to me.	KTBH
Maintenance	Actually, I'm not quite sure how often one has to check on the hive, but for some reason, I'm thinking it's a minimum of every two  or three weeks.	I understand that bees prefer to build their nest downward, like in a Warre hive. It takes more work to coax them to build horizontally. I think checks are recommended every 7-10 days.	Langstroth
Weight	Each super (those boxes you see) on a Langstroth hive contains 8 or 10 frames. Depending on the size of the frames and how much honey is in them, the boxes can get really heavy. (48-90lbs!)	One handles only one bar of comb at a time. So one might have to pick up about 7 or 8 lbs at the most at a time. *Bonus* The hive can be mounted to any height I like, so no bending.	I'm short and don't want back problems. Plus, I have slight arthritis in my hands. I don't need to chance dropping a box of bees. KTBH
Neighbors	I don't know why, but some people are really touchy about having thousands of stinging insects living next door or down the street. ;-) I think Langs are easily recognized and might make some people uneasy.	I think fewer passersby would recognize KTBHs. When finished, I'm hoping mine could easily pass for a birdhouse or garden object.	KTBH
Storage	It seems like one needs a lot of space to store equipment that isn't being used at the time, e.g., supers, frames, honey extractors, etc.	There isn't really much to store. All the bars remain on the hive. Most people I've seen keep a knife under the hive roof to separate bars.	KTBH
Messiness and comb strength	A Lang with foundationless frames is still a Lang. Langs are widely used for a reason. They're efficient, the comb stays where it's supposed to be and doesn't break off the frame, and burr comb and whatnot is easily scraped off.	Top bars require a gentle touch, especially with new comb. One has to be careful not to break the comb off the bar through mishandling or over haste. If the weather is too hot, combs can melt and collapse because they don't have frames to support them.	Langstroth (though learning to be gentle and careful with bees confer its own benefits)
Wax Production	I guess with foundationless frames, one could harvest the was just like with a KTBH. But this type of hive also gives you flexibility to reuse the wax.	Wax is harvested along with the honey. Was production is probably equal to a Lang with foundationless frames. Definitely more than a Lang that uses foundation.	I want wax for candles and lotion and other uses. This is really close, but I'll say Langstroth because of the added flexibility.
Honey production	One has the ability to expand the size of the hive to any size one wants. This means more space for bees and honey. Reusing comb also helps bees make more honey.	Because the hive size is not expandable, I've read that TBHs may produce up to 20% less honey. However, the mindset of most TBH keepers seems to be that honey is a secondary goal to bee health and well-being. Certainly, that's true for me. This is just a hobby, and I don't have to squeeze a profit out of my bees.	Langstroth
Honey Extraction	Crush and strain method can be used, but it seems like most people who use Langs like honey extractors. Extractors are basically centrifuges that spin the honey out of two or more combs at once. They  allow combs to be reused.	Uses crush and strain method, though I've seen video of people modifying extractors to accommodate bars. It most people only harvest if the hive is getting too full, and then they take only a bar or two at a time -- just enough to give the bees room and suppress swarming.	Reusing wax increases honey production. However, I read that bees take on different jobs over the course of their lives, so no matter what, there will always be bees drawing comb. Draw.
Cost	The packages I've seen run on average about $150 for a hive with baseboard, covers, two supers, frames, and some foundation. I wouldn't need foundation, but I'd still have to buy additional supers and frames all the time to expand the hive and replace broken parts. I'd also have to invest in harvesting & extracting equipment like capping scratchers, uncapping knives, extractors, etc. Oh, and I've mentioned that I'd have to find a place to keep all this stuff, too.	Designed for third-world countries, these hives are cheap. I've heard of people getting free pallets (with untreated wood) and building TBH's for under $5. If you buy one, though, they seem much costlier than Langs -- probably because you never have to buy anything else. (I call this the Swiffer Scam. The mop itself is cheap, but then you're locked into buying the stuff that goes with it, so you pay more in the long run.) Harvesting just requires a bucket with honey gate, strainer, and potato masher. I can make a wax melter with a styrofoam box, plexiglass, and a duct tape. Very low tech.	I did not see any TBHs online that had all the features I wanted, but I've got an ace in the hole. I'm lucky to have married a woodworker, so he's building them to my specs, which include observation windows with safety glass. We purchased wood from a local lumberyard. With the wood, glass, and screen, we'll come out to about $80 per hive. If we weren't doing the windows, we'd probably cut the cost in half. KTBH
Standardization	No matter where you go, these are built to standardized dimensions, so it's easy to buy nucs or swap between hives.	There is no standard for these hives. Although most of the ones I've seen are a wooden box of some kind, some people weave them out of various materials or  cobble them out of 55-gallon drums sawed in half. This makes it hard to swap equipment, so  one usually has to order a package of bees or catch a swarm.	Happily for me, my husband is making mine and can make all the dimensions of my equipment will be standard for me. But the Langstroth wins this round.

I don't know how I'll feel at the end of the summer. Maybe I'll change my mind and get some Langs, but for now, the KBTH seem a better fit for my personality. (Basically, they won me over with less lifting.) So my DH has been busily working on them for the past month. I'm hopeful that they'll be assembled (fingers crossed) by next weekend. Stay tuned for photos.

Life Explodes in My Kitchen

It's 7.51 am. I have exactly 4 minutes to finish blending my banana-pineapple-spinach smoothie (which is tastier than it sounds) and hustle the kids into the car so that I can drop the girl off at my friend's house and be at their school for an 8:15 meeting.

Moving from the house to the car always seems to be the critical moment for us, so of course, this has to be when things decide go from slightly messed up to completely pear-shaped. I've chucked too large a piece of pineapple into the blender, and it just won't liquefy. (Who knew 1/8th of a pineapple would be too big?) I fish it out of the blender and chop it into smaller pieces. Just as I turn around to add it back into the mix, I see my daughter. She's climbed a step stool  and her curious fingers are reaching for the on/off switch. And the cover is still on the counter.

"Nooooooooooooo..." Just like in the movies, I hear myself frantically warning her to stop as I lunge in slow motion toward the mixer. Too late. Green liquid churns and surges at turbo-blend speed then erupts into the air. It covers the ceiling, the walls, the counter, the floor, and my surprised two-year old.

That's when my daughter turns her face toward me, and I read the various emotions in her enormous saucer-eyes. There is unhappiness at being assaulted by a health drink, but also fear she might be in trouble for the mess. She appears so small, so vulnerable and sweet that it takes me by surprise. In that instant, both love for her and laughter at the situation bubble up inside me.

I quickly assure her it was just an accident, and my good husband kindly whisks her off for a change of clothing while I mop up the counter.

All day, though, I've been thinking about this, though. I never had these kinds of messes before children entered by life, but now I do. Frequently.

I guess my lesson learned for today is that life is messy, so I'd better go with it. Also, there is the obvious corollary -- never let a toddler near an uncovered blender.

Juiced! Week 2

Well, Week 2 of my juice fast (or juice feast, as the more positive folks like to say) is over.


I've really come to realize that over the past 40 years, I've developed some bad habits regarding food. Growing up, food was almost a sacred thing not to be wasted. It was also a discipline. When it was dinner time, we ate, and we couldn't leave the table until we'd finished everything on our plates. I'm not saying those were necessarily bad policies because it's important not to be wasteful, but I've definitely developed the ability to eat, whether I feel hungry or not.

Additionally, I've developed other bad habits over the years so that food has become more than a way to fuel my body. It's become a source of comfort, entertainment, a reward, a way to celebrate and to socialize.

A very positive aspect of this juice fast is that I've become much more conscious of what I consume and how it will actually nourish me. I'm more conscious of my body, too. If I consume too much, I feel absolutely sick. I don't think that would have happened before. Also, at the beginning of this experiment, I used to open the fridge constantly. I couldn't eat anything in it, but it was a habit, I think. In the last couple of days, that's mostly stopped. If nothing else, I feel that this experience has been like pushing  the reset button.

Anyway, here is a breakdown of Week 2 if you're interested in the nitty-gritty details.


Day 8
We were supposed to travel up to Boston today, but we had to cancel our trip. It's probably a good thing because I think I the thought of being this close to the North End and Chinatown and having to suck down a big glass of collard juice would have been too much.

Instead, I found new ways to torture myself. We went to the Korean store for a few things like rice and nori for the kids. When we checked out, the proprietor gave us a bag of red bean buns and a bag of Chinese honey pancakes. Fortunately, they can go into the freezer, but still... they're sitting there and calling to me. "Eat us! Eat us!"

Afterward, the oldest kid asked if we could go to the Lebanese store. That was even worse because they have a lunch counter, and the smell of falafel was positively drool-inducing. I grabbed some stew and Armenian string cheese for my husband, a bag of Toffix candies for the kids, and hightailed it on out of there as fast as I could.

Day 9
My daughter hasn't been feeling all that well since Sunday, so we've missed out on our usual walks, and I've noticed that I've started losing about a half pound per day instead of a pound. I don't know if this is just my metabolism leveling off or a lack of exercise.

A funny story -- I didn't feel like making any juice at dinner time, but my husband looked so disappointed when he found out that he was going miss out on his evening glass. So of course, I whipped up a fennel, green apple, cucumber concoction. He liked it. I didn't.

Day 10
I don't feel ill, but for the last 5 days or so, I've been waking up every morning with a throat full of phlegm (gross, I know). It goes away later in the day, though. More detoxing, maybe? Or am I just coming down with a cold because my toddler sneezed into my eyeballs?

Day 11 
Definitely a cold.

Day 12
Feeling better today. I've discovered some new favorite juices:

• Sweet potato, orange, ginger
• Parsnip, celery, and pear
• Collards, broccoli, celery, cucumber, parsley, apple, and kiwi

They the last two sound dreadful, but they're actually not that bad.

Day 13
I've jinxed myself. The morning was so mild and sunny that it was just begging me to go play outside, so the girl and I went for a nice long walk. I paid for it this afternoon with chills, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and a general feeling of crumminess.

All I want is a bowl of egg flower soup like my mommy (yes, I just wrote "mommy") used to make for me when I was sick as a child -- without cornstarch because I don't like goopey soup. But I have one more day left, and even if I didn't, I still have to stick to fruit and veggies for two weeks to ramp up my metabolism and digestive system.

Oh, and the other bummer today -- massive breakout on my skin. Looks like I didn't miss out on the detox symptoms after all. Can I start this week over?

Day 14
Despite the cold, I don't feel tired mid-morning anymore, which is what inspired this experiment in the first place. My clothes are quite loose now, too, which is a nice fringe benefit as well. Total weight loss between last week and this: 12 lbs.

Read about Week 1.