Preparing the Top Bars

So the key component to a Kenyan Top Bar Hive is, of course, the top bars.  These are just 1 1/2" X 15" wooden slats that sit on the top of the hive body, and the bees draw their comb on the bottom side.

However, bees don't just get dumped into the hive (well, actually they do!), and know where to build comb.  They need a little direction, some kind of a signal that says "over here, this is where it goes!".

The first thing I did was to attach a piece of all natural sisal twine to the bottom of the top bars with a staple gun.  I attached one end with two 1/2" staples, hammered the staples in firmly, stretched the sisal tight across the bar, double stapled the other end, hammered those down, then cut the sisal to length.

Next, the sisal needs to be coated with bees wax.  My friend Kevin gave me some fresh cappings (these are the wax caps off the cells in the hive that hold honey.  I melted the cappings down in a double boiler.  Extreme caution must be used when melting beeswax as it is very flammable!

The next step is to brush the melted beeswax onto the sisal.  This creates a raised area on the bottom of the top bar that the bees are supposed to recognize as ":the place" to start drawing comb.
 

Once all the strings have been coated with wax, the top bars are ready to go into the hive!