> 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



             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html