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Date: | Sun, 1 May 2016 14:40:03 +0000 |
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> http://www.backyardhive.com/the_cathedral_hive_the_next_evolution_in_top_bar_hive_design/
Modern top-bar hives were developed as an alternative to the Langstroth design with all it's complex woodenware and precision machining. Top-bars can be built with no power tools by subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. They are not as good as a frame-based design (you can't extract and it requires a lot more manipulations to deter the bees from attaching comb to the hive walls) but top-bar hives are easy to make and a good way to get into beekeeping with almost no capital outlay. By way of comparison, a single Langstroth (2 deeps, 2 mediums, top, bottom, inner and frames) costs almost $200. The modified Kenyan top-bar I built a few years ago cost me $9 total (though I did cheat and use power tools).
The Cathedral Hive is very beautiful. As a practical hive, however, it seems to have all the disadvantages of a top-bar with all the costs and intricacies of a Langstroth. In fact, the reinforced corners and extremely complex cuts make this even more difficult to manufacture than a standard Langstroth design. As a woodworking project, I'd put the Cathedral Hive at one, maybe two orders of magnitude more difficult than making a Langstroth from scratch.
In other words, they have managed to design a hive that is the worst of both worlds. If you can afford it, though, it is a fascinating and very pretty novelty. Mike Rossander
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