This article is written for educational purposes only, I do not recommend trying this without having a higher degree of beekeeping experience, and having taken necessary precautions to deal with being stung. Also, ensure that you take your neighbours into consideration, as they may be uncomfortable with a topless person rummaging through a box of stinging insects. Trying this yourself is purely done at your own risk.

Today I had my first experience of “topless beekeeping” in my Kenyan Top Bar Hive (KTBH). What is topless beekeeping? Essentially it involves manipulating or inspecting a honeybee hive without any veil, gloves or shirt. It also implies that you are not using smoke (or similar), however I can totally understand someone’s desire to do so. In fact, I ended up conducting the inspection with little more than shorts and thongs. Top Bar Hives, especially the Horizontal varieties, have a reputation for resulting in more docile (or less grumpy) bees. I also strategically picked a time of day where majority of the bees were out flying, which usually results in an easier inspection generally.

How did you do it?

It was a very hot summer day in Brisbane, and I decided that I was going to attempt to check on my Top Bar Hive (TBH), to see how it was progressing (as it was merely a swarm just over a week ago). I took the lid off of the hive, and removed a few top bars from one end of the hive. I then systematically picked up a bar, rotated it in a manner as to not break off the comb (the comb must always be perpendicular to the ground), had a look at what the bees were doing on the comb, then placed the comb back into the hive, leaving enough space for me to get the next top bar. If I had not left enough space, I am certain I would have rolled the bees as I lifted the combs, and potentially had some angry bees coming up to see me. When I was finished, I placed the missing bars back, and put the lid back on, easy as pie.

Did you get stung?

Surprisingly, no I didn’t. At one point, I accidently knocked a frame, which caused a few angry bees to fly around and head bump me, but after a moment of letting the situation calm down, they returned back into the hive. I would like to point out that if I had at any point made a big mistake, I would likely have been stung, but being in a situation of vulnerability makes you slowly consider every action you take, and I feel reduced my rate of errors. Having no gloves greatly increased my dexterity, which also prevented some of the handling errors I experience.

Why didn’t you get stung?

I believe that had I conducted this type of beekeeping on a Langstroth hive, I would likely be covered in stings from the waistband upwards. I feel that the TBH allows for a more gradual approach to checking the bees, only exposing a small amount of the hive to the outside world at any one time. I believe that this is causes less disturbance to the hive, compared to removing the entire lid of a Langstroth hive, and therefore majority of the bees inside are probably relatively oblivious to the intrusion. I have also heard that horizontal TBHs limit the loss of hive atmosphere (which I covered in a previous article) however I have never seen any science to back up those claims. As mention above, I also chose a time of day (roughly mid morning, 10am) to inspect the hive, as I knew there would be fewer bees inside and therefore fewer bees to annoy.

No seriously, why didn’t you get stung?

It is a common misconception that bees will sting you at the drop of a hat. I believe that this is in part due to the ‘killer bees’ phenomenon seen in the US media (which was over dramatised by US news and entertainment), and partly due to wasps, hornets and ants all being treated as the same animal. I once had someone ask me if honeybees were just wasps that could make honey. Ultimately, unless you are either very unlucky (e.g. accidently sit or stand on a bee) or very silly (read: beekeeper) and intentionally harass or attack the bees, merely standing near a hive and observing is highly unlikely to result in being stung. I was able to use a bit of beekeeper judgement and very slow movements to ensure that any interactions with the hive were not perceived as a threat by the colony.

What did you learn?

I actually learnt a lot from this experience. Whilst I have fiddled with TBHs in the past, this hive is my first serious attempt at raising a hive from scratch. It is really great to see that the demeanour of the bees is much milder when in the TBH. I also did not observe and hive beetle (as of yet) which is not uncommon at this early stage, but is still encouraging. I also learnt that the bees are using the half dowell (see: semi-cylindrical wooden sticks) I am using as comb guides to great effect. All combs drawn thus far are looking straight, and I counted combs larger than the size of my hand that were already almost full of honey and pollen. I also learnt that the solid sugar blocks I put into the hive to entice the swarm to stay are still being eaten (I would estimate approximately 50% had been consumed). I will try to make a video of my doing this again in the future, for your viewing pleasure. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know at beebenefactor@gmail.com.