Bees in Warre hives how do they get on compared to conventional?

[user 6228]

Does anyone here run both warre and conventional.?.. have you observed any differences in how the bees get on?

 

[user 20297]

That's a good, open question and one that I'm investigating. My Warre lacks the quilt-box and is made from PIR, so my observations maybe lack some validity.
1. Rather than behaving as if constricted by the limited space, they seem to be happy to function within slightly less than the space they have been given.
2. I expected them to swarm but if they have they've done it very sneakily.
3. They are supposed to move downwards, but having spotted some unintended space at the top of the hive, they quickly filled that with comb, honey and bees.
4. They didn't get treated since I set it up about a year ago, but they're still thriving and I don't see any difference from conventional hive in external condition of the bees.
5. The colony seems much smaller than comparable hives and I'm pretty sure that any honey harvest will be minimal.
6. My input has also been minimal and effectively, I needn't have spent any time on the at all.

 

[Sutty]

That's a good, open question and one that I'm investigating. My Warre lacks the quilt-box and is made from PIR, so my observations maybe lack some validity.
1. Rather than behaving as if constricted by the limited space, they seem to be happy to function within slightly less than the space they have been given.
2. I expected them to swarm but if they have they've done it very sneakily.
3. They are supposed to move downwards, but having spotted some unintended space at the top of the hive, they quickly filled that with comb, honey and bees.
4. They didn't get treated since I set it up about a year ago, but they're still thriving and I don't see any difference from conventional hive in external condition of the bees.
5. The colony seems much smaller than comparable hives and I'm pretty sure that any honey harvest will be minimal.
6. My input has also been minimal and effectively, I needn't have spent any time on the at all.

Minimal input. Seems much smaller than comparable hives.
Sounds much like they have swarmed "sneakily", but watching a hive swarm it can look back to normal from the outside in 10 minutes.

 

[user 20297]

Minimal input. Seems much smaller than comparable hives.
Sounds much like they have swarmed "sneakily", but watching a hive swarm it can look back to normal from the outside in 10 minutes.

I know.

 

[drex]

I ran 1 Warre for several years alongside Nationals, KTBH and long hive ( Nationals)
The Nationals were always the most prolific, for bees and honey, the long hive prolific for bees, the KTBH did OK, the Warre colony was always small and I took no honey. The attention they required was in the same order

 

[user 6228]

That's a good, open question and one that I'm investigating. My Warre lacks the quilt-box and is made from PIR, so my observations maybe lack some validity.
1. Rather than behaving as if constricted by the limited space, they seem to be happy to function within slightly less than the space they have been given.
2. I expected them to swarm but if they have they've done it very sneakily.
3. They are supposed to move downwards, but having spotted some unintended space at the top of the hive, they quickly filled that with comb, honey and bees.
4. They didn't get treated since I set it up about a year ago, but they're still thriving and I don't see any difference from conventional hive in external condition of the bees.
5. The colony seems much smaller than comparable hives and I'm pretty sure that any honey harvest will be minimal.
6. My input has also been minimal and effectively, I needn't have spent any time on the at all.

what the internal dimensions and what thickness of PIR?

 

[user 20297]

what the internal dimensions and what thickness of PIR?

Internally, it is three boxes so far at the original Warre internal dimension 0f 300x300mm and a 225mm height that fits with cutting a standard, car-boot sized, 1200x450 sheet of 50mm PIR. Therefore the total, internal dimensions are 725x300x300, with an accidentally left-on eke of 50x300x300.
Above the hive-boxes is a 25mm PIR crownboard, with a beespace strip all round. Above that is a 50x300x300 piece of PIR to ensure that the top is the best insulated part of the construction. Encasing all of the above is a lidded sleeve of Correx that extends down past the joint of the uppermost boxes.
The queen is marked so that when I get a chance I might see if she is the original. The hive is in a conspicuous part of my front garden and visible from the house through massively oversized windows. This gives me a reasonable chance of seeing either an outgoing or incoming swarm, should it occur.
It's a basic observational test for me to see for myself how one colony will function without any real beekeeping assistance.

 

[boywonder]

I was going to post a reply when Derek opened the thread, but was probably put off by the thought of an academic brain not appreciating what is going to be, invariably, an anecdotal response.

I am 3 years into Warre hive ownership, having crafted one from bits of cedar/ash (hive/bars), during lockdown, and having populated it with a swarm I believed to be a feral, prime swarm, with a shimmering, black queen.

She swarmed last year, and the progeny are measured as 54% AMM and the reminder C lineage. So, local mongrels, whichever way you look at it.

I have remote hive monitoring on it, too, which supports my non-interventionist approach to this hive. I go in maybe twice a year, and the SBI has gone through twice also. Whilst I would like to be brave enough not to treat at all, I did put one MAQS strip on last Autumn, to achieve a pre-winter knockdown, and will do so again this year.

For very many reasons, it's my favourite hive. I sit in front of it often, watching the bees come and go.

It's not there for honey, but I have twice taken some this year - latterly, 18lb (see attached video), which is a testament to how 'stable' the bees' performance is in this hive.

Not spectacular, but stable.

This is really what compelled me to post. Whilst all my other regular colonies have struggled to build comb and/or bank any summer income, the Warre girls seem unperturbed. Hive entrance activity yesterday (overcast, maybe 13 Deg) was ridiculous (unlike my other colonies). The impulse to draw comb is certainly stronger.

Temperament is interesting. I can sit directly at the entrance for hours, and the bees just ignore me. However, it must be said that when I have needed to go in and disturb them, they have been super-defensive. High levels of agitation, and some following... both of which have continued for several days, before they have reverted back to not giving a toss about me.

They have overwintered frugally. This is the subject of another post I made here (basically, a to-feed or not-to-feed dilemma. I did not feed, BTW).

Having the remote monitoring (temp, humidity, weight, amplitude and frequency) is helping me understand these girls better. If there's any data from that which might be interesting, I'm certainly open to a PM

Cheers

Honey harvest (and to put this into context, I may not be taking ANY honey from my c.a. 10 other managed hives this summer at all):


View attachment PXL_20230806_090743765.TS.mp4