Erik & Karen checked up on my hives several weeks ago, as I was fully engaged with moving house. I had thought that top bars would need adding at that time, but they were not. That indicated a reduction in nectar flow and perhaps also a reduced population due to multiple swarms.

As Erik's review of our cooperative honey harvest indicated, there was no honey to be harvested from either Kenyan hive. Each has active bees and honey stores, but not nearly equal to the Warre hives.

Both hives have swarmed. The Reach Center hive has swarmed three times. Both had extra space, yet the bees felt they did not have adequate room. The bars are supposed to be easy to lift and examine individually on these hives. The top bars are much sturdier than in the Warre hives. However, the bees attach the comb between bars making it slow at best to remove comb for examination, and it must be done from one end at a time to cause the least damage. This take too long to be effective.

I would like to build some top bars with sides to prevent the bees from attaching comb to the box sides. Then I need a solution for getting the bees building within each top bar and not across. If I can remove frames from near the entry and replace them with empty top bars, I may be able to control the swarming. Until I can remove any top bar with ease, then management will continue with difficulty.

One the up side, the bees are calm when works and the comb looks clean and well built. The roof is easy for two to remove. And I agree with Erik that the Kenyan hives don't have the aesthetic appeal of a traditional vertical hive.