Note: most of these are sold locally and are picked up by appointment. However, we now can ship these to the lower 48 states! 

Note: These are sold to fit our hives. However, we can make these to fit any top bar design you may have. All we'll need from you are a few key measurements. 

Why do I need this? 

Top bar hives and Langstroth hives are especially not compatible. Since local nucs are mostly created from local survivor stock in Langstroth equipment, special equipment like this is used to help transition the bees into a different shaped hive body. 

Buying local nucs from regional beekeepers is an ideal way to start a colony. Whether its a proven overwintered treatment free nuc or one made that spring with a local queen, having local bees that are related to each other helps tip the odds in your favor for success. You can mail order a specific breed of bees too. Beekeepers should check that the queen has a proven laying pattern, have been bred for desirable traits, and have survived your local conditions. Find the bees you want, that have been treated the way you see fit, and help them transition into your top bar hive. 

How does it work?

This comes with a 5 frame box. It holds the standard 5 frames from a Langstroth nuc but you can swap out 1 frame for one top bar if needed. Many times, you can leave all 5 langstroth frames in the box and the bees will naturally start building comb in the top bar hive above. However, if after 3-7 days you don't see them building comb in the main hive, you can sap out 1 langstroth frame with 1 top bar to force the bees tu build comb on a top bar. Then in about a week, move that partially built comb to the main hive to form a "bridge" between the nuc box and hte main hive. In this way, the bees start building comb on the top bar, then the bar is transferred up into the hive to help encourage vertical growth.

It also comes with a roof for the nuc box, a smaller temporary bottom board for the top bar hive, and it's predrilled. On our youtube page, we have instructional videos regarding installation, management, and gradual removal. 

As the bees have access to the new hive above, they build new comb on the top bars. The Nuc box can remain under the hive for the summer. As the queen starts expanding the brood nest up into the new comb, the Nuc box can eventually be removed, leaving the queen and the rest of the colony to live in the top bar hive. 

You also can contact our farm for tech support. We usually respond within minutes of getting an urgent request for help. 

NOTE: A NEW picture shows how we've been building these for center-mounting...this has been shown to be easier for folks to install and remove at a later date without removing the leg of the hive.