Top-Bar and Flow Hives: Gentler on the Back Than Langstroth

The traditional Langstroth hive is the workhorse of American beekeeping and the design used by 95 percent of commercial operations. The hive is a stack of vertical boxes called supers. Each deep super weighs 40 to 60 pounds when full of honey, and a tall production hive can stack three or four supers. A senior who lifts a full deep above shoulder height risks back strain, dropped equipment, and a stirred-up colony. The top-bar hive and the Flow hive are two designs that side-step the heavy lifting and the awkward bending. Both are recommended by AARP, by the British Beekeepers Association senior section, and by several university extension programs that work with older beekeepers.

The top-bar hive is a long horizontal box on legs. The hive sits at waist height, which means no bending, no kneeling, and no lifting supers overhead. The bees build natural comb hanging from wooden bars laid across the top of the box. A senior inspects the hive by lifting one bar at a time, examining the single comb attached underneath, and replacing it. Each comb weighs 2 to 4 pounds, much lighter than a full Langstroth frame. The trade-off is that natural comb is fragile in hot weather and can break off the bar if handled roughly. The honey yield from a top-bar hive is usually 20 to 40 percent less than a Langstroth, but the work is far easier on an arthritic back. Plans for a free top-bar hive are available from Backyard Hive at backyardhive.com and from Les Crowder's site at fortheloveofbees.com. A built-from-plans top-bar hive runs 100 to 200 dollars in lumber.

The Flow hive is a modern invention from a father-son team in Australia. The hive looks like a Langstroth from the outside but has special honey-collection frames in the top super. Each Flow frame is split lengthwise. A senior turns a key in the side of the hive, the frames split, and the honey flows out a spout into a jar at the bottom. There is no lifting of supers, no extractor, no uncapping, and no spinning. The harvest takes 30 to 45 minutes and produces clean honey ready to seal. The Flow hive sells direct from honeyflow.com and costs 600 to 900 dollars for a complete kit, much higher than a basic Langstroth but lower than buying a Langstroth plus an extractor plus an uncapping tank. Reviews are mixed. Some traditional beekeepers complain that the plastic frames discourage natural propolis sealing. Newer beekeepers love the lack of heavy lifting.

A third option that splits the difference is the Long Langstroth. The hive uses standard Langstroth frames but holds them all in a single long horizontal box rather than a vertical stack. The keeper still uses standard frames, standard foundation, and standard extractors, but never lifts a full super. Plans are available from Beesource at beesource.com and from several state extension programs. A Long Langstroth runs 200 to 350 dollars in lumber if built at home. The combination of standard frames with horizontal access makes the Long Langstroth the favorite of many extension agents who work with senior beekeepers.