1. How to start breeding bees in a BeeBIT eHive
PAOLO FONTANA

2. INHABITING A TOP BAR BEEHIVE
There are several methods to populate a Top Bar beehive. The most important feature is the season during which we think to inhabit the beehive, due to the fact that the bees need time and resources to build almost honeycombs with brood and abundant stocks. Building such a number of honeycombs may take 1-2 months, but generally it’s advisable to avoid inhabiting a Top Bar after the end of May.
There are 5 solutions to inhabit a Top Bar:
by introducing a natural swarm.
by introducing package bees and a fecund queen bee placed in a queen cage.
by transferring the bees, removed by 5-7 small combs of a standard colony together with their queen placed in a queen cage.
by using Top bar beehive as a “trap” for natural swarms, by placing it next to an apiary.
by transferring honeycombs with bees, stocks and young brood (or together with queen bee) from another hive bred in a Top Bar (colony division).
The chance to cut honey and brood combs inhabited, by a colony in a standard hive, fitting them to the Top Bar, is too invasive if compared with the natural honeycomb and it’s not recommended.

3. PRELIMINARY ACTIONS/1 Installing location
The long side with entrance must be SOUTH or SOUTH-EAST oriented.
BF Top bar must be placed with a height from the ground about cm.
Concrete blocks may be useful. The support must be solid and steady.
Top bar must be placed perfectly plane (use a spirit level), both in the longitudinal and transverse direction (a wrong placement may affect the right building of honeycombs as well the scale).
scale
SOUTH or SOUTH-EAST
70-80 cm

4. PRELIMINARY ACTIONS/2a
Set up a mobile coverage
To ensure a correct reading of the scale both in case of rain and snow, it is important to set up a solid cover, removable during possible controls but well anchored to avoid damages from wind.
Frontal view
Lateral view

5. PRELIMINARY ACTIONS/3
Placing bars, diaphragm and nourisher* if we are not placing in the hive a natural swarm. If we are not using a natural swar is necessary getting ready almost 0,75 lt of sugary syrup 1:1 (0,5 lt water, 0,5 kg sugar e 1 cc of white vinegar) and filling 1 kg honey jars; make three holes 1,5-2 mm diameter on the plug: preserve the rest for the following days. In case of natural swarms, this action is optional.
Holed diaphragm
Eight bars and strips placed tightly (7 mm)
four bars and strips placed tightly (7 mm)
To use a nourisher the diaphgram must have two holes or an excision on basal portion.
Hive section in rear view

6. PRELIMINARY ACTIONS/3
As nurisher can be used one or two glass jars with 3-4 holes on each cup of about 1,5-2 mm diameter. Jars must be suspended between two pieces of wood resting on the ground net.
The jars must feet with the presence of inner temperature sensors. Before to set up everithing try to collocate the empty nurishers….
3-4 holes on the cup of about 1,5-2 mm diameter
Nurishers in dorsal view
Hive section in rear view
Nurishers in laterals views

7. Hive section in rear view
PRELIMINARY ACTIONS/4
Opening the left section (Ree bowl)
Remove all bars and strips of the middle section:
Ree bowl
Hive section in rear view

8. PRELIMINARY ACTIONS/5
It’s important to choose a sunny day with hot weather followed by other warm and sunny days.
Bees must build honeycombs, an action which requires a warm temperature and adequate food resources.

9. Inserting a natural swarm/A
Place Top Bar near the swarm.
If it’s possible lift the whole swarm or shake it inside a bucket.
Shake the whole swarm as in an ordinary hive or pour it off from the bucket.
Swarm
Swarm
Ree bowl
Hive section in rear view

10. Inserting a natural swarm/B
Place again bars carefully over the swarm. Brush away the bees over the bars once they’re correctly placed.
Once checked the swarm is “captured” (bees enter and they don’t go out), after about half an hour place the Top Bar in the definitive location.
Check the right placement of the nourisher and place the jars with syrup 1:1.
A natural swarm could not also be nourished... but a little help may be useful. Place jars with syrup 1:1 on the nourisher only after placing Top bar in the definitive location.
SWARM
Hive section in rear view

11. Inserting a natural swarm/C
After 7 days remove only shims of the inhabited bars
Treat with dropped Oxalic acid (5 cc for each inter-bar).
Place again shims.
Check the nourishing fruition and fill it if necessary.
shims
The solution of oxalic acid must be prepared as following:
dissolve 100 g sugar in a quarter liter of warm water, allow to cool and add 20 g of pure oxalic acid powder.
Hive section in rear view

12. DADANT FRAME 266 mm 433 mm Honeycomb surface: 1150 cm2
The dose used in italy for oxalic acid (5cc per inter-frame) is based on dadant-blatt hive frame that has an area of 1151,78
266 mm
433 mm
Honeycomb surface: 1150 cm2

13. TOP BAR DIAPHRAGM 46 cm 32 cm 20 cm
The area of the comb of the top bar used for BeeBit project ahs an area more or less of 1050 cm2 so we ca unse the same dose as in dadant, so 5 cc for each interbar.

14. 2.a Inserting an ordinary bee package and queen/A
Place the Top bar in the definitive location and place also the jars containing sugary syrup 1:1.
Take off the small cage with the queen from the bee package (take off the eventual queen cage closure strip) and place it in the first bar on the left (see instructions BF Top Bar).
3. Take off the eventual nourishing jar or candy from the box of bee package, spray the bees in the package with water and shake them inside the central compartment.
Bee package
BEE PACKAGE
QUEEN CAGE
QUEEN CAGE
BEES
Hive section in rear view

17. 2.a Inserting a bee package and queen/B
Place again bars carefully over the bee bowl and brush eventual bees before placing the roof.
Place the box of bee package at the roots of the Top bar, with the opening face on the top, to get the bees still inside.
During the following days checking the syrup consumption lifting up the bars of the first compartment on the left or from the rear window. To start a new colony with a bee package almost 3-4,5 syrup liters will be needed, but this amount may vary according to the honeycomb building up.
QUEEN CAGE
BEES
Hive section in rear view

18. 2.a Inserting a bee package and queen/C
After 7 days remove only the shims of the inhabited bars
Treat with dropped Oxalic acid (5 cc for each inter-bar).
Place again the shims.
Check the nourishing consumption and fill it if necessary.
shims
The solution of oxalic acid must be prepared as following:
dissolve 100 g sugar in a quarter liter of warm water, allow to cool and add 20 g of pure oxalic acid powder.
Hive section in rear view

19. 3. Transferring bees and queen bee from a colony in a standard hive/A
If the colony in standard hive inhabits 10 frames, it’s possible to collect bees from 5-6 frames and leave the others in the hive to breed a new queen bee. If the colony inhabits 6 frames it’s possible to withdraw 5 frames of bees. Leave in the standard hive the bees which cover a frame of young brood.
Identify the queen and place it in a queen cage together with some companion bees.
Move the standard hive and replace it with Top bar with all bars in order and together with the nourisher with 1 sugary syrup 1:1 jars. 4.
Move the bars of the left compartment and place the queen cage containing the queen bee in the first bar on the left.
QUEEN CAGE
Ree bowl
Hive section in rear view

20. Carefully identify the queen bee and place it in the queen cage together with some workers bee. Remove the eventual closure strip of the cage.

21. Replace the hive inhabiting the colony with the Top bar and fix the queen cage containing the queen bee to the first bar on the left.

22. 3. Transferring bees and queen bee from a colony in a standard hive/B
Withdraw 5-7 frames covered by bees one by one, spray with water and shake them, keeping them vertically, and place bees inside the middle compartment with a snap (without touching the hive).
Place again the frames from which bess have been removed in the standard hive.
Once the snap is complete, close the middle compartment with bars and shims and brush the eventual bees before placing the roof
QUEEN CAGE
Hive section in rear view

23. Withdrawing 5-7 frames covered with bees one by one and shaking them with a snap (without touching Top bar) inside the middle compartment.

24. 3. Transferring bees and queen bee from a colony in a standard hive/C
Transferring the standard hive together with all honeycombs and the remaining bees in an apiary almost far 1,5-2 km from the Top Bar.
During the following days, check the nourishing consumption lifting up the bars of the first compartment on the left or from the rear window. To start a new colony with bees shaked from a standard hive almost 3-4,5 lts of sugary syrup will be needed, even if this amount depends on the honeycombs building up.
QUEEN CAGE
BEES
Hive section in rear view

25. 3. Transferring bees and queen bee from a colony to a standard hive/D
After 7 days remove only the shims of the inhabited bars
Treat with dropped Oxalic acid (5 cc for each inter-bar).
Place again the shims.
Check the nourishing consumption and fill it if necessary.
shims
The solution of oxalic acid must be prepared as following:
dissolve 100 g sugar in a quarter liter of warm water, allow to cool and add 20 g of pure oxalic acid powder.
Hive section in rear view

26. Some drops of Lemon grass essential oil
4. Top Bar as “trap” for natural swarms/A
Placing bars and diaphragm as usual
A Top Bar may be left next to an apiary as a “trap” for natural swarms. Please check every week.
Plugged holes
ENTRANCE
Hive section in rear view
Some drops of Lemon grass essential oil

27. Hive section in rear view
4. Top Bar as “trap” for natural swarms/B
Knowing the entering date of the swarm, after 7 days remove only shims of the inhabited bars in the populated compartment.
Treat with dropped Oxalic acid (5 cc for each inter-bar).
Place again the shims.
shims
The solution of oxalic acid must be prepared as following:
dissolve 100 g sugar in a quarter liter of warm water, allow to cool and add 20 g of pure oxalic acid powder.
Hive section in rear view

28. Hive section in rear view
5. Nuc creation from a colony in Top Bar/A
Having a colony inside a Top bar (of the same tob bar measures and of a right comb size) with all 12 combs completed and with 7-8 combs with brood and 4-5 with honey, it’s possible to start with the splitting colony.
If the queen bee may be easily identified, it’s better to leave it in the source hive and to withdraw 3-4 honeycombs with brood, almost a pair of which with eggs and small larvae of 1-2 days, and 3 of honey. All honeycombs must be withdrawn when well covered by the bees.
HONEY
BROOD
Hive section in rear view
SOURCE COLONY

29. Hive section in rear view
5. Nuc creation from a colony in Top Bar/C
Combs removed to create the new colony
HONEY
BROOD
Hive section in rear view

30. Hive section in rear view
5. Nuc creation from a colony in Top Bar/B
After combs withdrawing for the nuc creation, the source colony must be rearranged to the left of the hive (to develop the brood nest towards left), replacing the diaphragm on.
Placing a bar at the beginning and one at the end of the brood honeycombs (with 7 mm shim), and leave 2 bars at the end of the stocks honeycombs (with 12 mm shim).
Hive section in rear view
SOURCE COLONY

31. NEW COLONY (ORPHAN NUC)
5. Nuc creation from a colony in Top Bar/C
The new orphan colony must be placed to the left of thenew top bar hive inserting the diaphragm.
Leave 1 bar at the end of the brood combs and one at the end of the honey combs.
The new orphan colony has to be moved to an apiary almost far 1,5-2 km.
The new orphan colony will have to build real cells and breed a supplementary queen bee.
Hive section in rear view
NEW COLONY (ORPHAN NUC)

32. Hive section in rear view
5. Nuc creation from a colony in Top Bar/D
After 24 days check if there are pollen foraging bees (indicating the presence of brodd inside), anyway, remove all shims
Treat with dropped Oxalic acid (5 cc for each inter-bar).
Place again the shims.
After a week, check the occurrence of the new queen bee and its brood
shims
The solution of oxalic acid must be prepared as following:
dissolve 100 g sugar in a quarter liter of warm water, allow to cool and add 20 g of pure oxalic acid powder.
Hive section in rear view

33. PAOLO FONTANA