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Beekeeping For All

 Warré Beekeeping
These pages are dedicated to beekeeping using the hive developed by Abbé Émile Warré (?-1951) and any of its modifications. Responding to the obvious decline in beekeeping in France since his youth, Warré experimented with some 350 hives of various designs with the aim of producing a hive that was simple, economical, bee-friendly and assured a surplus for the beekeeper. The result was his People's Hive (Ruche Populaire) whose construction and operation he described in his book Beekeeping For All (L' Apiculture Pour Tous)1.

Warré's hive comprises tiers of identical boxes fitted with top-bars, but no frames. Its essential design and usage features can be summarised as follows:

  • hive-body box internal dimensions 300 x 300 x 210 mm, with projecting handles,
  • eight 36mm centred 24mm wide top-bars resting in rebates in each box (NO FRAMES),
  • wax starter strips under each top bar (NO FOUNDATION),
  • flat floor, notched with a 120mm wide entrance, alighting board,
  • coarse weave cloth covering the top-bars of the top box,
  • 100 mm high 'quilt' boxed with wood and filled with straw, sawdust, wood shavings etc., retained with a cloth,
  • gabled roof containing a ventilated 'loft' and separated from the quilt by a mouse-proof board,
  • the bees build natural comb in the first (top) box and extend downwards into further boxes,
  • new boxes are added at the bottom,
  • one or more boxes of honey are harvested from the top after the main flow,
  • the bees winter on two boxes of comb containing a minimum of 12 kg stores (France),
  • honey is harvested by draining, or by centrifuging combs in baskets,
  • at the spring visit, the hive is expanded by one or more boxes, containing with starter strips or comb.

A very important feature of Warré's method is that the hive is opened in the strict sense only once a year, namely at harvest. In spring the addition of boxes underneath does not necessitate a hive opening in the sense that the heat is let out. The importance of the retention of nest scent and heat (Nestduftwärmebindung) for bee health and productivity was discussed by Johann Thür in his book Beekeeping: natural, simple and ecological (1946) which also discusses Abbé Christ's (1739-1813) hive that is almost identical in concept to Warré's.

Present day beekeeping with the Warré hive

The geographical focus of Warré beekeeping is France and the hive is known to be used in Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. An experiment was started with six modified Warré hives in Wales, UK, in 2007. In 2008, beekeepers in Canada, USA including Alaska and Spain made Warré hives in readiness for spring. Mainly French or German sites and fora of Warré beekeepers can be reached via the 'Links' page.

An English language e-group for Warré beekeeping can be joined via http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/warrebeekeeping or by sending an email to warrebeekeeping-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk

There is Warré beekeeping thread in the forum at Top Bar Beekeeping with the Barefoot Beekeeper (www.biobees.com/forum/).

Technical drawings for constructing an authentic Warré hive.

Complete newcomer to beekeeping?

Please read our page of advice for complete beginners.

Variants of the Warré hive

In France the Warré hive is variously referred to as Ruche Populaire, Ruch Warré, Ruche Écologique, Ruche Climatstable and Ruche Française. Many modifications have been introduced, some of which depart in varying degrees from Warré's intentions of simplicity, economy and bee-friendliness. However, some of the modifications may eventually prove to be necessary, for instance in climates other than that of France, or in areas where legislation requires combs to be easily movable. We therefore offer descriptions of these variants in separate pages accessible via the links below:

Roger Delon's Stable-Climate Hive (Ruche Climatstable)
Jean-Marie Frèrès' & Jean Claude Guillaume's Ecological Hive (Ruche Écologique)
David Heaf's modified Warré Hive Roof
The double Warré hive system of Jean-François Dardenne
Warré hive accessories by Marc Gatineau

exploded_labelled.jpg (89375 bytes)              gatineau.jpg (85959 bytes)

Left: 'Exploded' view of a Warré hive. The top-bar cloth here is coarsely woven hessian.
Right: Marc Gatineau's transparent Warré hive on its third box. From http://www.apiculturegatineau.fr

Note:
1) 'Beekeeping For All' is translated from the 12th edition of L' Apiculture Pour Tous which is dated 1948. The 5th edition is dated March 1923. We await information on the first publication of the book.

 

These Warré pages are authored by David Heaf who is based in North Wales, UK. We thank Phil Chandler for offering space for these pages on his site. Copy-editing by Cleartext.