Warré Hives at New Generation Beekeeping

Warré Hives, time for a renaissance The Warré Hives originated in France in the latter part of the 19th Century and were created after much research and testing by an Abbott called Emile Warré. His Peoples Hive was intended to allow the bees to live in conditions similar to the hollow tree trunks favoured by wild bees and with the minimum of intrusion by the beekeeper to allow the special atmosphere created in the hive to be maintained. The glass observation hive shown at the top of this page shows what the insde will be like. It comes from the biobees website which has a massive amount of information about the Abbot and his hives. The other two photos show my first Warré hive which, at this point, had only had the roof painted but is now the first of many which will be placed in the gardens of people interested in helping honey bees. This complete hive has three boxes which sit on a base and legs and are topped off with a roof. Below the bottom box is the landing board where the bees will come and go on sunny days. The whole thing stands on a 600mm square paving slab. I like to paint the hives because they are softwood and it prolongs their life and to me they look more attractive. In eastern Europe hives are painted and adorned with patterns but in the uk many hives look like weathered derelict sun bleached packing cases. The different colours help the bees find their own hive when there are quite a few in an apiary. In a good season a colony could grow to fill five or more boxes, which should mean some honey for the beekeeper and the gardener as well as some to sell, click here to see what honey is available now. The next page, click here, describes the hive in more detail.

Abbé Warré lived in France and died in 1951 . He believed regularly opening the hive and letting out the pheremones, warmth and vapours caused unnecessary stresses because of the time taken for them to restore the of equilibrium. of the hive Precisely my view when soaking in a hot bath and someone comes in and leaves the door open!