Newbee - octagonal warre

[psafloyd]

I'm highly sceptical as to the wisdom of spending a small fortune on an octagonal

I think it would be wise to get hold of David Heaf's excellent book and read that before committing yourself - decide which way of keeping bees is going to suit you best, then get the appropriate hive

 

[The Apprentices]

Thanks for your advice Chris, I will keep you posted as to my progress.

David

Hi

I made a few Warres last year and seeing how awkward it was to remove the top bars/comb on inspection day I made some simple frames to fit inside mine, and if you did opt for Warre system I recommend you fit at least a wire frame to them for easy manipulation later on, don't waste your good money on those hexagonal units, buy or make standard square boxes, they are basically a box and size in general does'nt really matter as long as they are all the same.

Also check out the new Zest horizontal hive with frames.

Here is a simple wire frame, leave a bee space between the oitside of the wire and the inside of box.

Also fit triangular bar guides under any foundationless frame or top bars if not already there and let the bees build their own comb from scratch and just a very light rub with some beeswax along the very point will do the trick and the bees will make a much better job of attaching their own comb up both sides of the triangle which has a much greater surface area and hold.

I have recorded them building comb from scratch and also on foundation and they build comb just as easy without any foundation, one of the best places to witness this comb building speed is when you take them to the oilseed rape.

Save your money and let the bees do what they want, but fit a simple frame to your top bars and make your job that little bit easier on inspection.

For more information look up cell size/ regression which Dave Cushman wrote about and now many others are in the trim with more knowledge on the subject today.

Or as they say, Suck it and see.

Good luck.

 

[davidstacey42]

Hi David,

I set up one of these Octagonal Warres last year and the bees are doing fine in it. I've also got a TBH which I intend to populate this year. I got the bees through the hive supplier and they were on frames that dropped straight into the widest part of the octagon (the bees have since built their own comb on the shorter bars). I like the side windows so that I can see them at work without opening up the hive.

David