>>> [log in to unmask] 11/03/01 04:20PM >>>
Because of back injuries I am thinking about using longer hives .......
.........................................................Anyone have experience with this
type of hive?  Would one race of bee work better than another in this
system?<<<

I can make an observation on this based on an experience I had with
one of my top bar hives.  Some races of bees seem to have a more
compact brood nest limited to several frames/top bars, and making only
honey comb on top bars/frames outside this area, but the Carniolans I
had in one top bar hive one year raised brood along several inches of
the bottom edge of each and every comb in the entire hive (15-20 top
bars).  As a result I was able to harvest very little honey from that hive
without being destructive to the brood.

After thinking about this situation, I decided that they would have been
ideal in a vertical hive since they would probably keep their brood nest
only in the bottom and put honey stores up top.

So from my limited experience, I would suggest that Italians would
probably be a better choice for a long hive than Carniolans.  At least
that was my experience here in central Texas.  The Carniolan queen
in this case was from a California breeder.  I have not kept Carniolans
since then.

Layne Westover, College Station, Texas, U.S.A.