Are you interested in a more sustainable, bee-friendly way to keep bees? The Top Bar Beehive is gaining popularity among backyard beekeepers, homesteaders, and advocates of natural beekeeping methods. This horizontal hive design supports more natural bee behaviours, reduces stress on the colony, and offers a simpler approach to hive management.

What Is a Top Bar Beehive?

A Top Bar Beehive is a horizontally oriented beehive where bees build their combs from removable wooden bars placed across the top of the hive. Unlike the more conventional Langstroth hives, which are vertically stacked and use framed combs with foundation, the top bar hive encourages bees to build their own natural comb.

A Brief History

The concept of the top bar hive dates back to ancient Greece and Africa, where beekeepers used horizontal hives made from clay pots, logs, or baskets. The modern version of the Top Bar Hive (TBH) became popular through Kenyan and Tanzanian designs, and it's sometimes referred to as the Kenyan Top Bar Hive or KTBH.

Design of a Top Bar Hive

The design of a top bar hive is both simple and ingenious:

• Horizontal Orientation: One long box (often trapezoidal) holds a series of top bars where bees build comb. Bees build their comb downwards from these bars.

• Top Bars: Wooden bars span the top of the box and act as the foundation for natural comb construction. These bars can be fitted with a guide strip to help bees build straight comb.

• No Frames or Foundation: Unlike Langstroth hives, there are no frames or plastic/foundation sheets in a TBH.

• Built-in Observation Window (optional): Some designs include a side window so beekeepers can observe the hive without opening it.

• Entrance: Usually located at one or both ends of the hive.

Benefits of Top Bar Beehives

Natural Comb Building

Bees create their own comb from scratch, allowing them to size and shape cells based on their needs — whether for worker brood, drones, or honey storage. This is more aligned with natural bee behaviour and is often cited as being healthier for the colony.

Bee-Friendly Management

Top bar hives allow less invasive inspections. You only lift one bar at a time rather than stacking and unstacking heavy boxes. This reduces stress for both bees and beekeepers. This is because inspections can be performed without lifting heavy boxes, as in the case of Langstroth hives.

Natural Beekeeping

Emphasis on Natural Behavior. Top Bar Hives often appreciate the emphasis on allowing bees to exhibit more natural behaviours in their hive.

Low-Cost and DIY-Friendly

The simple design makes TBHs easy and affordable to build with basic carpentry skills and materials. No need for expensive extractors or woodenware.

Beginner-Friendly

Some beekeepers, especially beginners, find them user-friendly due to their simplified design.

No Heavy Lifting

Unlike vertical hives, you don’t need to lift heavy honey supers. This makes TBHs ideal for older beekeepers, those with limited mobility, or anyone who prefers a low-impact option.

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly

By allowing bees to build their own wax and avoiding the use of plastic foundations or chemically treated materials, TBHs are often seen as a more sustainable choice for natural beekeeping.

Great for Small-Scale or Hobbyist Beekeepers

If your goal is pollination, bee conservation, or small-batch honey, rather than large-scale honey production, TBHs are a perfect match.

Cut and Crush Harvesting Method

Harvesting honey from a Top Bar Hive usually involves cutting the comb off the bars and crushing it to extract the honey. This is different from the traditional extraction methods used with Langstroth hives.

Single Box Design

Typically, a Top Bar Hive consists of a single box. The bees build their comb downward from the top bars, and the hive is managed without the need for stacking multiple boxes.

Natural Comb Building

Bees in a Top Bar Hive build their comb naturally without the use of pre-drawn foundation sheets commonly found in other hive types. This allows the bees to follow their natural instincts in creating comb structure.

Drawbacks and Considerations

Lower Honey Yields

Top bar hives often produce less honey per colony than Langstroth hives, especially in the first year. This is because bees must invest energy in building comb instead of just filling pre-drawn frames.

Fragile Comb

Because the comb is not supported by a frame, it can be more fragile and prone to breakage in hot weather or during inspections.

Less Standardisation

Top bar hives vary widely in size and shape, which can make it hard to find or interchange parts and accessories.

Harvesting Honey: Cut and Crush Method

Since honeycomb isn't reusable like in framed hives, extracting honey involves cutting the comb off the bar and crushing it to release honey. This method is simple but means bees must rebuild comb each time.

Top Bar Hive vs Langstroth Hive

It’s important to note that while Top Bar Hives have advantages, such as being less expensive and more accessible for beginners, they also have limitations, including potentially lower honey production compared to other hive types. The choice of hive design depends on the beekeeper’s preferences, management style, and specific goals in beekeeping.

Is a Top Bar Hive Right for You?

Consider a top bar hive if:

• You value bee welfare and natural behaviours

• You’re more interested in sustainable beekeeping than maximum honey yields

• You prefer an easy-to-manage hive without heavy lifting

• You want to build your own hive from scratch

Tips for Success with Top Bar Hives

• Start with a guide: Use bars with waxed comb guides to help bees build straight comb.

• Keep your hive level: A tilted hive can result in uneven comb.

• Regular inspections: Gently inspect the hive to prevent cross-combing or collapsing comb.

• Avoid over-harvesting: Bees need their honey stores to overwinter. Only harvest surplus honey.

Top Bar Beehives

Top Bar Beehives offer a bee-centric, natural alternative to traditional hives. They’re especially appealing to beginners, hobbyists, and anyone interested in sustainable, low-impact beekeeping. While they may not be ideal for large-scale honey production, they shine in their simplicity and alignment with natural beekeeping principles.

Research and Information Top Bar Beehive

British Beekeepers Association - BBKA represents beekeepers across the UK and supports education around the honey bee.

National Bee Supplies - Full range of hives, accessories and clothing is perfect for Beekeepers

Beebase National Bee Unit - BeeBase is the Animal and Plant Health Agency's (APHA). It is designed for beekeepers and supports Defra, Welsh Government and Scotland's Bee Health Programmes. 

National Beekeeping Centre Wales CIC - 

Natural Bee Keeping Trust - 

The Central Association of Bee-Keepers (CABK) -