Warre & Another.

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Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
6,213
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2
Location
Norwich
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
3 National Hives & 1 Observation Hive.(Indoors) & lots of empty boxes..
Does anybody here keep a Warre hive and another type of hive, and perhaps can give a comparison between the two.
 
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I have a Warré, and three Kenyan Top bar hives, what sort of comparison are you seeking (or are you really after a Warré/"conventional" hive comparison?)
 
Well, I was thinking more of a comparison between Warre & conventional but I suppose that there will also be differences between Warre and Kenyan hives.
 
If it's of any help - Kenyan top bar hives are nearer to "conventional" hives in their management possibilities - although they are a very different shape, apart from a lack of queen excluders, they can be run pretty much like a National or Langstroth -inspections, splits etc can be performed easily - they also have the big advantage of not needing any heavy lifting - everything's accessible at the one level (fine for wheelchairs) - they also have the advantage that you can do "partial inspections" easily without disturbing the whole thing.
Warrés on the other hand are "a whole different ball game", and are usually run very much using a "hands off" regime - (which can be a shock to the system for those used to 8 day inspections etc), and are often only disturbed twice a year - in spring, when empty box/boxes are added at the bottom (nadiring) - this involves lifting the top boxes, which can be heavy - and then in autumn when top box/es are harvested. I'd suggest having a good read first if you're contemplating a Warré - go mad and invest in David Heaf's excellent new book!:coolgleamA:
Hope that helps!
 
Last time I looked in this hive early October, there were plenty of stores and brood and plenty of bees.

The above quote was from you on the 14 November regarding your Warre hive?

You are listed as having 3 colonies, so how about your comparisons?

You are asking others, when you should be able to at least contribute your findings?
 
Already have 2 Warre hives although one box on one hive is national length with adaptor boards. I bought a 5 frame nuc (national) and made an adaptor board so I could fit the nuc on top of Warre boxes. After that I made another box the same width as Warre box but with the length of a national, tranfered the nuc frames to that box and added 3 more frames of foundation...

Other hive contains squatters who moved in and started building on top bars that didnt even have a starter strip... I was suprised at how much they built in a week. I put some bars with starter strips in the next box down and then another box with frames and foundation in the next box down. I found that by adding an eke under the Warre box that I can use national frames by just shortening the length.. I wanted to compare between bees in Warre box with top bars and bees in Warre box with frames.
Another complication was that I put a deep eke on the top to see how well zip-lock bags work as feeders..... They ate it all a bit quicker than I thought they would and decided to build some comb onto the canvas on the bottom of the quilt box. I decided to leave it alone, made another eke and added that underneath where they were building. So on that hive there is 3 and a half boxes all being used when I last looked. From what I could pull out on frames there was plenty of everything needed, although since the cold weather started that hive had a mass eviction of drones which now seems to have ended.
 
You are listed as having 3 colonies, so how about your comparisons?
Quite correct, but did you notice that it also says that my hive type is TBH?

You are asking others, when you should be able to at least contribute your findings?

If I had Warre hives and another type of hive I would be able to make my own comparison, but as I dont I was asking other members if they have found there to be any difference.

Therefore, with respect, I think perhaps that you have not understood my question.
 
Very sorry. With a framed demonstration hive, I was thinking the other would be a similar framed hive. My mistake for you not offering all the information in the original post.
 
Very sorry. With a framed demonstration hive, I was thinking the other would be a similar framed hive. My mistake for you not offering all the information in the original post.

When you went to school did the big boys used to steal your dinner money?

What are your comparisons between your warre hive and another hive you have?
 
I saw my first Warre hive in Belgium and was amazed how small the boxes were...a play sized hive...
 
Not really an answer to your question but... I got very interested when I heard about warre hives, as offering a simpler and gentler method of beekeeping over my current national hive and doing it by the book (ish). After reading up on the subject, I felt that the elephants in the room were disease monitoring and swarm control- both subjects seem to be skirted around. These, combined with a feeling I was getting that crops would be modest, decided me that the minuses outweighed the pluses. I too would be interested to hear of comparisons, but I suspect they may be hard to come by- as it is a different philosophy of beekeeping, rather than a different method, I suspect not many people keep both.
 
"I felt that the elephants in the room were disease monitoring and swarm control- both subjects seem to be skirted around" - all of these matters ARE dealt with very fully, but aren't immediately plain to a conventional beekeeper - VERY short and simplistic answers are that you don't have to cut a kitten open to find out if it's healthy, and "swarm control - WHY?*":rofl:

*even though it is possible to do artificial swarms/splits
 
"swarm control - WHY?*":rofl:

Er, because I'm in a town and my neighbours wouldn't appreciate swarms? Because I work and the chances of me seeing where they've gone are almost non-existent? Because I can't see the mileage in losing half my bees every time the colonies get big?
 
Conventional swarm control is a problem with Warre hives if you live like I do in the middle of a town. I have brought the traffic in my street to a standstill with swarms and am now very careful to avoid swarming. I know a beekeeper with Warre hives but he lives surrounded by fields with only a few houses near him - and he is a big bloke which probably also helps deter any complaints.

You can reduce swarming by using young queens but sooner or later they will swarm and I believe regular swarming is essential in any case to keep varroa levels down if you are not using chemical treatments for varroa.

I haven't heard of doing splits or artifical swarms with Warre hives though they could of course be done but conventional beekeepers only perform these manipulations when regular inspections indicate they should be done - and reguar inspections I thought are precisely what is not done with a Warre - so I am not sure how the beekeeper with a Warre is supposed to know when to do the split or AS?
 
I'm in a town and my neighbours wouldn't appreciate swarms?

Spread the word that swarming bees are not likely to pose a problem because they have no hive to protect.
 
When they set up their new home in someone's chimney they most certainly do cause a problem. A potentially big bill for the housholder to have them removed.
 
When they set up their new home in someone's chimney they most certainly do cause a problem. A potentially big bill for the housholder to have them removed.
Agreed.
 
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