Top vs Bottom Bee Space

[Neils]

It must be that time again to start pondering whether Top Bee Space really is better than Bottom Bee Space. Currently all my stuff is Bottom Bee Space and having gone over a few hives this year using Top Bee Space instead I do quite like the lack of squishing that Top Bee Space seems to encourage over Bottom.

As I'm now on 14x12, having to worry about mixing brood boxes isn't an issue, but I do have a number of supers that would be a pain in the backside to convert.

When it comes to supers though I've come across two schools of thought:

"Thou shalt not mix top and Bottom bee space boxes or the world shalt end, thy bees wilt fly away and all thy honey shalt be Ivy".

And

"Just chuck em on, the bees don't seem to mind"

I can't remember what the third opinion was, but I asked two beekeepers so there must be one somewhere.

[gavin]

I see that you're really getting into all this let's-try-to-be-different stuff! Isn't it the case that with top bees space you just don't see the squished bees rather than not have them?

Personally I like to see what's happening and relatively rarely squash any bees as a result.

G.

[Rosie]

Again I'm with Gavin. I like bottom bee space because you can see the bees that could be squashed and can smoke them out of the way. With top bee space you can't see who is on the underside of the bottom bars.

I made a number of brood boxes once and made them top bee space as a result of reading that it was wonderful. It worked out fine though because I use a frameless queen excluder over the top bee space brood box and under the bottom bee space super. that gives me a single bee space on both sides of the QX so I have best of both worlds. The bottom bee space supers have the added advantage that I can put some of them down on a neighbouring roof if I need to shuffle the supers. If you put top bee space supers onto a flat surface half the frames jump due to bits of brace comb on the underside and there is also no way of knowing that you are not squashing bees under the frames.

Rosie

[gavin]

Again I'm with Gavin.

You'll have to stop saying that! (Else the bribe might run out ..... )

[Rosie]

You haven't seen my price yet!

[GRIZZLY]

I made some top bee space hives for a lady who then went on to complain that she regularly squashes her queens.Due to top bee space perhaps ?.I notice that the plastic hives all seem to be top bee space.

[Savoyard]

I first experimented with top bee-space by removing the runners from a nuke hive. The bees propolised the frame lugs to the rebate, but left the tops perfectly clear.

I was so impressed that I modified one of my older brood-boxes to proper top bee-space with metal runners. I obtained a rigid, unframed queen excluder and use it to "convert" top bee-space (in the brood-box) to bottom bee-space (in the supers).

I am delighted with the results. There is no accretion of wax on the frames or excluder (perhaps a teaspoon full in a whole season), and it seems easier to put the excluder back without injuring the bees. There is no difference with the supers, as they are unmodified.

The only down-side is that it is harder to remove the first frame during an inspection.

I will be converting more brood boxes for the coming year.

Savoyard
Bristol, just north of Somerset

[Neils]

Hi Alan, fancy meeting you here.

[domino]

I'm with Rosie & Savoyard

I built my 14x12's as bottom bee space then used a router to take 8mm (ish) off the rebate to get top bee space. I've left my supers as bottom bee space and don't have any problems. I have a QX with 4mm bee space on either side. I know, Rev. Langstroth would be turning in his grave but it works for me.

[Savoyard]

I found a "shop bought" top bee-space Commercial brood box this autumn, & bought one. It turned out to be 1/4 inch taller than my others, and had a bee space on both ends. So even the appliance makers can get it wrong...

I am discovering a need for a crown board framed one side only, so I can cover the hive with or without supers.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Savoyard