If you have read my beekeeping posts on a regular basis you will know that I advocate and use Horizontal Topbar hives (My Natural Beekeeping website can be found Here)

If however you decide have a go at keeping bees in a vertical top bar hive then please have a look at DIY Beehive by Nick Hampshire, who is a Warre Beekeeper and  Beehive Builder

He has produced a step by step guide which takes you through building your own Warre hive from his plans.

The plans and guide are in this instance not free but with his bonuses I think it is a worthwhile investment.

The Warre hive has one disadvantage (which for me was a killer!) It involves heavy lifting. To expand the hive and give the bees more space you put an empty box on the bottom of the stack. The bees natural instinct is to build downwards as they would do in a hollow tree.  The Warre method of bee keeping works with this instinct.

(With conventional bee hives you add new sections to the top of the stack forcing the bees to expand upwards which is an un-natural enforced response for them).

With a Warre hive you have to lift the whole stack to put the new box underneath. On the upside the Warre method is almost totally hands off so you more or less leave the bees to themselves.

With these instructions you will learn how to:

Choose the best materials for your beehive
Easily build your own hive parts
Quickly make either frames or top bars for your hive
Select and apply your preferred wood finish for your perfect backyard beehive
Choose a good location and install your finished beehive ready for your own honeybees!

Here’s the best part. This is an all in one package…it has all the information you need to build a garden beehive in less than one afternoon!

So if you would like to consider the Warre method of beekeeping rather than the horizontal top bar method (better for old farts with bad backs like me!) and constructing your own hive then I recommend to you the DIY Beehive as a good place to start

Click Here!

Best Regards

Clive

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