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Top Bar Bee Hive

Have you ever received a gift that just left you speechless? You know, the kind that wasn’t for any holiday or special occasion. The kind that was just because the giver thought you’d enjoy it. Gabriel received a gift like that this weekend.

This is a top bar bee hive. It’s a traditional Kenyan beehive. There are no frames, the bees build their honey comb on the bar and then down in a triangle shape. A friend of ours, who loves woodworking, saw this in a book and made it for Gabriel. Our friend was so excited he drove 20 miles to deliver it about 9:00 at night.

Gabriel really doesn’t like me taking pictures of him…. I heard comments such as, “Just ignore her and maybe she’ll stop.” ha..little do they know…

This hive has an observation side. When you open the front there’s Plexiglas so you can see how your bees are doing without disturbing them.

This is one of the two dividers, you can arrange them where ever you want them. The honeycomb will (hopefully) be in that shape.

Carl, Gabriel, Benjamin and our friend’s son checking it out.

I had to ask our friend to step closer to the hive…he kept stepping out of the range of the camera…ugh…

This is a top bar. We’ll put beeswax in the groove and that will tell the bees where to begin building their honeycombs.

Our beekeeper friend is trying to re-queen a hive for us. He’s so nice like that. So we (as in Gabriel) might end up with two hives this year. It’ll be interesting to see where this adventure takes us.

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Thanks for sharing with your friends!

Anonymous

Tuesday 22nd of May 2012

Sorry I forgot to say the above post was from me, Christy!!!

Anonymous

Tuesday 22nd of May 2012

That is awesome! Jon did a really good job. I can't believe how different Gabriel looks! Have fun!!!

SchneiderPeeps

Friday 25th of May 2012

He did such an amazing job! Gabriel has gotten so tall and lean. It's crazy trying to keep these guys in jeans! I feel like I'm on the hunt for jeans every week.

jennifer keith

Monday 21st of May 2012

what a rockin awesome gift; can't wait to hear details and maybe some bee/honeycomb pics?!!!

SchneiderPeeps

Friday 25th of May 2012

I'm hoping to be able to take pics of the bees in action - once we get a hive.

Patty

Monday 21st of May 2012

I am looking forward to seeing how the bee project turns out. We had some wild bees share some of their honey with us once, it was really good.

SchneiderPeeps

Friday 25th of May 2012

That was so nice of them. I like trying different raw honeys because they all taste different based on what pollen the bees have gotten.

Rachel E.

Monday 21st of May 2012

How exciting! I wish I could see it up close and in person (or in bee?) I don't know. I am interested to see it in action. Or the bees in action? Well, you get my point.

SchneiderPeeps

Thursday 24th of May 2012

Hopefully once some bees move in I can get some action pictures through the observation window.