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Horizontal Hives

One of the first things that occurred to me when I wanted to stop lifting so much in my beekeeping, was a long hive. I first built one back in about 1975 for a friend but I never really used them myself. My next one was in about 2002. The concept is simply to have the hive running horizontally so you don't have to lift. These are popular in many parts of the world. Another variation of this is a top bar hives where it not only runs horizontally but has no frames for the combs. I have had, in use at one time, two 12 frame deeps hives, one 22 frame deep hive, one 33 frame deep hive, five 33 frame medium hives, one 22 frame Dadant deep hive, one 12 frame Dadant deep hive and a few others. My entrances are just propped up migratory covers. The advantage is, not only that I don't have to drill holes or worry about skunks but that the entrance moves with the supers so the bees tend to work the supers better as I add them.

Management issues and questions are similar to top bar hive management issues.