Editing Horizontal top-bar hive (section)

{{short description|Type of beehive}}
{{Infobox tool
| name           =Top-Bar Hive
| image          =Top bar hive.JPG
| image size     =250px
| caption        =Modern top bar hive
| other_name     =Kenyan Hive
| classification =Beekeeping
| types          = 
| used_with      = 
| inventor       = unknown
| manufacturer   = 
| model          = 
| related        = 
}}

A '''top-bar hive''' is a single-story frameless [[beehive]] in which the comb hangs from removable bars. The bars form a continuous roof over the comb, whereas the frames in most current hives allow space for bees to move up or down between boxes. Hives that have frames or that use honey chambers in summer but which use management principles similar to those of regular top-bar hives are sometimes also referred to as top-bar hives. Top-bar hives are rectangular in shape and are typically more than twice as wide as multi-story framed hives commonly found in English-speaking countries. Top-bar hives usually include one box only, and allow for beekeeping methods that interfere very little with the colony. While conventional advice often recommends inspecting each colony each week during the warmer months, heavy work when full supers have to be lifted,<ref>Advice for New Beekeepers UK National Bee Unit. 02/03/2020 http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=209 accessed 6.6.2020</ref> some beekeepers fully inspect top-bar hives only once a year,<ref name="Fedor Lazutin p 321">Fedor Lazutin. Keeping bees with a smile. Principles and practice of natural beekeeping. p 321. New Society Publishers. April 2020.</ref> and only one comb needs to be lifted at a time.<ref>Michael Bush. The Practical Beekeeper. p.551. xstarpublishing.com. 2004. {{ISBN|978-161476-064-1}}</ref>

There is no single opinion leader or national standard for horizontal hives, and many different designs are used.<ref>Top Bar Hives, warts and all. January 4, 2020. Paul. https://oxnatbees.wordpress.com/2020/01/04/top-bar-hives-warts-and-all/ This article first appeared in BBKA News, January 2020.</ref> Some will accept the various [[Hive frame|standard frame]] sizes.