Warré Hive
Lexikon
The Warré hive goes back to the French priest and beekeeper Émile Warré, who described it as the Ruche Populaire, or people's hive.
The Warré hive goes back to the French priest and beekeeper Émile Warré, who described it as the Ruche Populaire, or people's hive. His aim was a home that comes close to natural conditions while being simple and inexpensive to manage.
It consists of several equally sized, stackable boxes with an internal dimension of 300 by 300 millimeters and a height of 210 millimeters. Instead of frames, eight top bars each carry the comb, which the bees build freely without foundation. At the top it is closed off with a cushion of loose filling material, beneath which lies a cloth of linen, hemp or jute so the cushion does not get stuck down.
The essential difference from the modern box hive lies in the management method. Expansion does not happen upward but by adding empty boxes underneath, because the bees build from top to bottom. In late summer, the topmost, honey-filled boxes are harvested. Interventions are rarely called for.
The combs are attached to the top bars and can be detached from the side walls and drawn out with a flat knife. This matters, because the Bee Disease Ordinance (Germany) requires that colonies can be inspected by the official veterinarian when needed. It should be kept in mind that a brood nest inspection means lifting off whole boxes and is therefore a considerably greater intervention than with framed hives. Varroa treatment is mandatory here as well.