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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, Market Farming <marketfarming@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Beekeeping with the Warré hive -- Home
  • Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:21:47 -0500


Beekeeping with the Warré hive -- Home
http://warre.biobees.com/
warre.gif (47893 bytes)
Home
http://warre.biobees.com/index.html
Links
http://warre.biobees.com/links.htm
Contact
http://warre.biobees.com/contact.htm
Warré plans
http://warre.biobees.com/plans.htm
Warré methods
http://warre.biobees.com/methods.htm
Warré modifications
http://warre.biobees.com/modifications.htm
Warré precursors
http://warre.biobees.com/precursors.htm

Groups / Fora
Yahoo e-group
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/warrebeekeeping
Biobees.com forum
http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

Abbé Warré's book
Beekeeping for All:
1. Printed edition
http://warre.biobees.com/bfa.htm
2. free e-book (PDF)
Warré Beekeeping
http://www.users.callnetuk.com/~heaf/beekeeping_for_all.pdf

These pages are dedicated to beekeeping using the hive developed by Abbé Émile Warré (1867-1951) 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, 12th edition)1.
http://warre.biobees.com/bfa.htm
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 successful (1946) which also discusses Abbé Christ's (1739-1813) hive that is almost identical in concept to Warré's.
http://www.users.callnetuk.com/~heaf/beekeeping_for_all.pdf/thur.pdf

No frames

Even in early editions of Beekeeping For All, Warré advised against using frames as shown in the 5th edition:

'Nowadays, I recommend without hesitation the People's Hive with fixed combs, even for very large enterprises. [...] However, out of respect for the freedom of my readers, I will describe the People's Hive in its three forms: fixed comb, ordinary frames, open frames with closed ends.'2

This web site is premised on the 12th edition of Beekeeping For All which describes the top-bar version of his hive only. But, for the sake of completeness, we provide a translation of the pages of the 5th edition describing the two versions of his hive with frames, the latter having no bottom-bars.3 On a separate page devoted to frames, we list Warré's objections to them and compare his frame dimensions with those of two Warré hives currently used with frames.
http://warre.biobees.com/frames.htm

Present day beekeeping with the Warré hive

The geographical focus of Warré beekeeping is France and the hive was also initially used in Belgium and Switzerland. The first in use in Germany and Russia were populated in 2006. An experiment was started with six modified Warré hives in Wales, UK, in 2007.
http://http//www.dheaf.plus.com/warrebeekeeping/warre_experiment_heaf.htm
In 2008, beekeepers in Canada, USA (including Alaska) and Spain made Warré hives in readiness for spring 2008. By late 2009, Warré beekeepers were also known in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden and Uruguay. English, French and German sites and fora of Warré beekeepers and hive manufacturers can be reached via the 'Links' page.
http://warre.biobees.com/links.htm

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/).

Plans for constructing an authentic Warré hive.
http://warre.biobees.com/plans.htm

Complete newcomer to beekeeping?

Please read our page of advice for complete beginners.
http://warre.biobees.com/beginner.htm

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)
http://warre.biobees.com/delon.htm
Jean-Marie Frèrès' & Jean Claude Guillaume's Ecological Hive (Ruche Écologique)
http://warre.biobees.com/guillaume.htm
David Heaf's modified Warré Hive Roof
http://warre.biobees.com/heaf.htm
The double Warré hive system of Jean-François Dardenne
http://warre.biobees.com/dardenne.htm
Warré hive accessories by Marc Gatineau
http://warre.biobees.com/gatineau.htm
David Croteau's hive base with sump and entrances in each box
http://warre.biobees.com/croteau.htm
Gilles Denis' half-frame (porte-rayon) and a discussion of frames versus top-bars
http://warre.biobees.com/denis.htm
Historical precursors of the Warré hive based on a similar or identical concept
http://warre.biobees.com/precursors.htm

Left: 'Exploded' view of a Warré hive. The top-bar cloth here is coarsely woven hessian.
exploded_labelled.jpg (89375 bytes)
http://warre.biobees.com/exploded_labelled.jpg
Right: Marc Gatineau's transparent Warré hive on its third box. From http://www.apiculturegatineau.fr
http://www.apiculturegatineau.fr/
gatineau.jpg (85959 bytes)

Notes

1) Beekeeping For All by Abbé Émile Warré is translated into English from the 12th edition of L' Apiculture Pour Tous which is dated 1948. For details of this book and e-book click here.
http://warre.biobees.com/bfa.htm
The 5th edition (see note 2 below) is dated March 1923 and was published when Warré was curé of Martainneville in the Somme, France. The 12th edition was published after he had moved to Saint-Symphorien on the outskirts of Tours, France. We await information on the publication date of the first edition of the book.
Original French of 12th edition of L' Apiculture Pour Tous:
1. transcribed as a PDF: http://www.apiculture-warre.fr/
http://www.apiculture-warre.fr/
2. as JPEG files of scans of each page: http://ruche.populaire.free.fr/apiculture_pour_tous_12eme_edition/
http://ruche.populaire.free.fr/apiculture_pour_tous_12eme_edition/
2) Translated from page 46 of L' Apiculture Pour Tous - Manuel-Guide Des Fixistes Et Des Mobilistes (Beekeeping For All - A manual for fixed comb and mobile frame beekeepers) by Abbé Warré, Bureau du 'Travail au Grand Air', 17 Rue Littré, 17 Tours, France, 5th edition, 1923.
http://ruche.populaire.free.fr/apiculture_pour_tous_5eme_edition/
Download PDF of scan/OCR of 5th edition in French.
http://warre.biobees.com/warre_5th_edition.pdf


3) English translation of pages 60-71 of L' Apiculture Pour Tous - Manuel-Guide Des Fixistes Et Des Mobilistes (Beekeeping For All - A manual for fixed comb and mobile frame beekeepers) by Abbé Warré, Bureau du 'Travail au Grand Air', 17 Rue Littré, 17 Tours, France, 5th edition, 1923. Download PDF.
http://warre.biobees.com/warre_5ed_60-71.pdf

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 biobees.com. Copy-editing by Cleartext.

Beekeeping with the Warré hive -- Home
http://warre.biobees.com/



  • [permaculture] Beekeeping with the Warré hive -- Home, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 12/19/2010

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