Horizontal or Long Hive Beekeeping

 Because lifting a heavy (80+ pound) Langstroth box can be an issue for some beekeepers, top bar or horizontal hives (sometimes called a long Langstroth) may be an appealing alternative. These hives are a single row of frames held horizontally in the hive; the body can be built low enough that a person in a wheelchair could manage them. 

The top bar (sometimes referred to as a Kenyan hive) has sides that are sloped into a flat-bottomed V shape and utilizes a single wooden bar that bees build comb onto. This type of horizontal hive has no frame to support the comb and requires careful handling so the comb doesn’t break. Honey extraction is done only by the crush and strain method. A long Langstroth uses the same frames that fit in a stacked  Langstroth hive, and honey can be extracted with an extractor. The beekeeper can start a long Langstroth hive with either a package or nuc of bees; only a package can be installed in a top bar hive.  

Management of long hives is similar to a stacked hive – feeding, integrated pest management, inspecting,  and seasonal management tasks apply to any type of hive.  

Management of long hives requires frame manipulation that differs from the stacked Langstroth hive; a couple of recommended books are: 

Keeping Bees in Horizontal Hives: A Complete Guide to Apiculture by Georges de Layens, Gaston Bonnier, Mark Pettus 

Top Bar Beekeeping by Les Crowder and Heather Harrell