Top Bar Hive – Rescue Bar

We often capture swarms and rescue and relocate feral bees from structures and trees so that we can give them a better shot at survival as well as keep them from being sprayed or killed.

What is a rescue bar? It allows us to fasten existing comb that we’ve cut from an existing structure to a bar that can be directly installed into the new hive. Giving the bees some pre-built comb allows them to bounce back more quickly and immediately begin storing, laying, and taking care of brood.

What do you put in the rescue bar? We advise live bee removal specialists and hobbyist to only save the brood to put into the colony. Some pollen and honey will inevitably find its way in this comb sometimes, but it is not the main focus. The bees are highly capable of gathering more food, but they need a place to build up their numbers to continue colony growth. For this reason, rescuing some of the brood comb from the removal can be invaluable in survival.

Here’s a quick video of how to install comb on the rescue bar that we took at Buzz Fest at Beeweaver Apiaries. Steve Butler with Company Bee made this “Buzz Bar”.

 

As a side note, these bars can be modified for top bar or Langstroth hives (really for any hive type).