I’ve been building all sorts of beneficial insect habitats and hotels over the past few months, as I finish installing a food forest design. One of the last components of this little edible ecosystem I am going to add is a top bar beehive.
This subset of beehive designs is one of the oldest modes of beekeeping, and mimics the way bees build their combs in nature. A beeswax-coated bar is placed over a protected cavity, and the bees build the rest in the form of the vessel.
Short top-bar hive from Greece, as depicted in 1682: Wikimedia Commons
It is both a productive, and apicentric mode of beekeeping. Designs can be adapted to account for what materials are locally available, and the system can thrive with little to no upkeep.
My father-in-law works at the municipal recycling station, so I am going to try build a simple small top bar hive with a window, using what recycled materials and timber he can find for the project.After which time, I just need to come into some European Honeybees!
Joey Ramp’s service dog, Sampson, is with her at all times — even when she has to work in a laboratory. But it wasn’t always easy to have him at her side. Joey tells us why she’s trying to help more service animals and their handlers work in laboratory settings together.
Photo: Doris Dahl/Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Caption: Joey Ramp became an advocate for STEM students living with disabilities after being told she couldn’t bring her service dog into her laboratory classes.
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