Carol, I had to chuckle about how enthused we are compared to the beekeeper lol! I'd bee like ooooo-oooo, I gotta seeeeeee! O.k. Carol, I do disagree a tiny bit with your apiarist. He was saying "board it up in the fall". I say no need to do this. From all the research I've read, bumblebees never reuse an old nest and rebuild one from scratch every year. An old nest tends to just fall away and disintegrate. Carol there are several clues on how to tell a bumblebee from a honeybee. A bumble bee has far less "abdomen" (honeybee's abdomen is much more elongated). A bumblebee tends to be very bulky and tumbles and bumbles around in its flight pattern, whereas a honey bee zeroes in cleaner flight patterns. Bumblebees have far less stripes as well. They also have a heavier thorax (the mid-section). It's very easy to tell a honeybee apart from a bumblebee, but some solitary bees can look a little bit closer to a bumblebee. If that bee looks fuzzy, it isn't a wasp for sure! Wasps have very hard shells and "loud" patterns on their stripes (too much contrast)or very odd protrusive body divisions. They look pretty yucky, lol! and a wasp isn't going to have pollen smeared saddlebags either, that's for sure, lol! Wasp legs tend to be very angular and yucky! I have full confidence in you! I'm sure you did not! mistake a wasp for a bee!

Marie, as long as they look good and you have new brood in your primary hive body below - I wouldn't worry about your schedule too much. If they are building at a good pace, then you can put that honey super on somewhere in July. I would go into the hive right before you do this (or the day of) and look through both your bottom hive body and your top hive body and check to see that the queen is laying well and that everything is progressing as it should.

After 50 yr. of beekeeping, I have some "unbiased" opinions, and suggestions. I do however live in N. Indiana and the climate is just a bit different from CA. Likewise, bee management is a bit different too. You may find that making your own supers (5 3/8' or 6 1/4") and hive bodies (9 1/8") may be more expensive than buying them outright, because of waste lumber in the process. The dimensions above are frame sizes. The supers and hive bodies are a bit deeper in order to provide what is known as the "bee space". That's the space that bees are least likely to fill with wax and propolis (bee glue). If you are young, and stronger than you are intelligent, go ahead and use the full depth hive bodies. ;-) My preference is the 6 1/4" super. Three of them provide the same space for the brood chamber as two 9 1/8" bodies. Additionally, you can use them for supers, and in that way, all of your equipment is of uniform size; AND when you get old, you'll still be able to pick 'em up. A full-depth hive body full of honey, weighs over 65# and you are picking it up with the tips of your fingers in the shallow "handholds" on the sides! Foundation: The sheets of wax that are placed in the frames. (I apologize if I'm telling you things that you are already quite aware of.) There are at least 3 options. 1/ A plastic sheet coated with pure beeswax and the cell bases impressed on it. 2/ A sheet of pure beeswax only, with the cell bases on it. 3/ And a sheet of pure beeswax with the cell bases, and with crimped wires imbedded in it to help prevent sagging of the comb. The inside temp. of the hive is approx. 92 and beeswax melts at 153Â to 154Â. So it is getting a little soft at 92Â. The problem with the "beeswax & plastic sandwich" is that the bees often chew the wax off of the plastic down in the corners and those areas are then wasted space. This may be an even bigger problem In Calif. than here, because of the "slower" honey flows, but that is only a guess on my part. I have no doubt that your hearing is good, but the information wasn't! If you place one frame with foundation in it, in the center of the hive body or super, and the rest of the frames are open, you will be severely disappointed! The bees will probably build the center comb in the frame, but don't expect the rest of the combs to be where you want 'em. The natural spacing of honeycombs is 1 3/8" from center to center to center. (The honeybee is a European insect and I can't for the life me understand why they didn't use the metric measuring system!) Given the opportunity to be creative, they will deviate from that "rule" somewhat, and wind up with some of the combs built across through 2 or 3 frames. Believe me, it takes a lot of profanity to get those combs out of the hive. Secondly, it is probably against Calif. State law, to have cross-comed hives because, the bee inspectors can't get into the hive to check for diseases. They will kill the bees and burn the combs here in Indiana. You should not have posted your question my friend. I seem not to know where to quit. ItÂs a common failing with beekeepers. ;-) Good luck! YouÂre in for a lifetime of fascination-!!! ibeewise (Paul)

well top bar/kenya bee hives are pretty expensive no matter how you look at it if you are buying a prebuilt one. making your own would be better and with scrap salvaged wood however if you can't make one i would suggest just buying a few 12$ assembled langstroth boxes a 18$ screened bottom board a lid for 20$ and 30 frames for 36$ total coast would be 110$ for that hive if you don't have the time nor the funds for something expensive. a top bar kenya hive would run you 200 to 350 prebuilt or partially built. and for 110 you could get your other tools and have a whole have and the equipment for the price of one top bar hive. so its better in the long run for cost to go with langstroth i would think. also buy local if you can find a bee supply store and avoid expensive shipping costs. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rcUDHm64nbp6kDUpDeiTw https://www.facebook.com/TheItalianGarden?ref=bookmarks