Greg stumbled upon this site this morning and it looks very interesting. A bit fancy for my tastes, but if you want a beautiful hive, then this might be right up your alley.
For the record, the site’s claim that topbar hives “fail(s) to meet USDA regulatory inspection guidelines” is utter nonsense. Topbars are easily removed for inspection, it just may take a bit of education for your local bee inspector. Also, as near as I can tell, the USDA has no regulations regarding hive construction. Bees & hives are mostly regulated at the State level.
Speaking form experience here in Ontario, the inspectors are more than willing to work with you on whatever type of equipment you have. As long as the combs can be removed for a look, they don’t care what kind of equipment you have.
Comments 1
During summer inspections, when the bees have attached the comb to the walls – it can be a challenge to remove the frame. When you cut it free from the walls, then risks appear such as the entire comb breaking off, or simply leaking of honey from freeing it. This leaking of honey in summer also does induce robbing.
My comment above is based on the ability of the beekeeper to perform inspections. If the frames are all attached to the walls, inspections are difficult and or avoided.