Apis MelliferaAbbé Warré - Beekeeping For All
Abbe Warre's book Beekeeping For All1 was a very interesting read. It describes the method, hardware and a philosophy of maintaining hives in a way that may be more natural than the widely accepted Langstroth hive. The equipment is quite easy and inexpensive to produce.
I immediately noticed that the Warre design was a square super design instead of a rectangle of the Langstroth hive. I have always wondered, why the Langstroth hive was not originally a square design, being even more simple to manufacture and with a more efficient distribution of heat within the hive. The square design also allows the hive to be rotated 90 degrees to the entrance so the layers of the comb are perpendicular to air entering in the hive in winter. Warre suggests that this may help keep the center cluster warmer in winter.
The Warre hive allows the colony to produce it's own natural fixed comb without frames or foundation. Considering suggestions2 that we should rotate out older comb for health concerns of the colony, this idea would also be supported by using a Warre hive, if not perhaps at a more aggressive cycle.
The Warre hive design supports the idea that over-wintering colonies in smaller hives is more efficient. Since Russian bees tend to winter in a smaller cluster than some other breeds, the Warre hive might also be useful for this purpose. This benefit has also been described by those who winter hives in smaller Langstroth based nucs.
The construction of Warre equipment is more simple than Langstroth hives. Because of the smaller scale of the equipment, the complicated joints, making strong supers in Langstroth hives is probably unnecessary. The only major piece of equipment that might be an obsticle to obtain or make, is the hoist used to add supers to the bottom of the hive without breaking apart the rest of the hive, therefore creating less disturbance of the colonies environment. The Warre hive always adds supers to the bottom of the hive as the colony produces more comb and removes supers from the top at the time of honey harvest.
Because there are no frames, some manipulations would be difficult if not impossible, the Warre hive might not be suitable for some apiary uses. The addition of complete frames and foundation is possible with some sacrifice in the total volume of the hive. It might also require custom made frames.
I came up with a design that is based on the square Warre hive configuration, medium depth (6 5/8") supers, using 8 Dadant style frames which could be made from modified, commercially available, frame parts.
I am also curious about regulations that would restrict the use of Warre hives with fixed comb. Some states may have regulations that only permit hives that can be inspected. I would assume that Warre hives would be permitted in places where top-bar hives are permitted.
If you have experience or comment about Warre hives, I would like to hear them. Please contact me via Twitter, Facebook or at my email (tony-at-apis.me).
Posted on May 14, 2009
1. Warré, Abbé. (1948). Translated from the original French version of L'Apiculture Pour Tous (12th edition) by Pat Cheney and David Heaf. Third edition, July, 2007. (Link to PDF)
2. Coleman, Jack. (2009, May). A Specific Brood Comb Replacement Program. American Bee Culture, Vol. 149 No. 5, 433-434.