Warré Hive V1.0 Review

#1 By: Jonathan Minchin, October 30th, 2013 04:37

The Warré hive V1.0 was our first working prototype, there are three hives in operation in Valldaura Labs in Barcelona, Sony LABs in paris and another at Okno in Brussels. In all the hives the European Mellifera Bees are thriving. The design was a straight forward adaption from the original Abbe Warré design, only small adjustments were made to align it with digital fabrication process.

Download all fabrication and design files here.

Now its time to learn from our experiences during the year, and to add our own design flavour into the mix. Here is a list of design adaptions that I will be undertaking over the next week or so. This information is also available in the documentation files on Github.

Replace all screw fixings by making all joints Snap fits
Add spaces / channels and fixings to accommodate for
2.1 The electronic boards
2.2 Sensors
2.3 Bee counter
Strategies to Laser the pattern before milling (could be with mill and laser reference points)
Add machine strategies to reduce post milling finishing by using multiple and refined tool bits.
Make each box stackable with a simple male / female guide. (see stacked makerbot)
Add removable tray at the bottom of the hive to extract detritus and dead bees.
Include a watering point with a moat system to allow bees to feed and repeal ants.

#2 By: Jonathan Minchin, October 30th, 2013 04:57

#3 By: Aaron Makaruk, October 30th, 2013 18:10

This is really incredible Jon. I like that we have two different designs - a man on Reddit gave me the critique (of the Colorado Top Bar) that it doesn't allow for box-stacking and live-hive transport for mobile pollination. The Warre Hive meets this need beautifully.

#4 By: Metropropolis, November 15th, 2013 01:44

Don't mean to be a party pooper, but there's a small gotcha here: Warre hives are illegal in most places, as they are fixed-comb hives, and not easily inspected.

While some hobbyists do keep warres, for this reason, they are not suited to mass deployment (ie. Pollination).

Unlike Langstroth and KTBH hives which have removable frames, and can be inspected.

#5 By: Wagner Pierre, November 17th, 2013 16:15

Metropropolis: I don't know about the legality of it, but warre hives can be easily inspected with the help of a small "L" shaped metal tool to cut the wax from the sides. It's then possible to get the comb out like a "normal" beehive. Of course, inspecting Warré hives this way defeat the purpose of its design.

#6 By: Wagner Pierre, November 17th, 2013 16:29

Jonminchin: I see potential difficulties with point 5. and 6. and the point 7. does not seem relevant to me.

Point 5. You need to be able to pass a blade between two elements because they get stuck together with propolis and also the wax of combs. Male/female guides might redender the operation more difficult or impossible.

Point 6. I have those on my hives, but I was told it is important to keep them away because if you leave them on all the time, the moisture make them impossible to slide out anymore. I use a metallic mesh at the bottom of my hive so most of the detritus fall throught, the rest, well it's up to the bees to clean it.

Point 7. Well, in my place, ants are not a source of trouble for my bees.

#7 By: Jean Carfantan, November 29th, 2013 11:10

The solution is to have a flat top and a glass at the rear of each box.

#8 By: Jean Carfantan, November 29th, 2013 11:11

An important point is to have the entry orientated toward east, so that they build east-west.

#9 By: Joe Meyer, December 2nd, 2013 21:01

Point 5:
The first thing I'd do is snap off the guide pin, if not by accident, I'd do it on purpose. The last thing I want to do when lifting a box of honey is line up a guide pin. I am not sure what issue this is trying to solve?

A strong hive will have bees constantly crawling on the edges. Squishing some bees is unavoidable. If you place the box on crooked and twist it straight there are only 4 points initially that may squish bees. With the guide pins you are forced to line up the boxes exactly before setting the box down, this creates squish points along the entire rim of the hive body.

#10 By: luc pintens, January 21st, 2014 03:25

Fixed combs are better for bees. In natural cavities that is how they survive. Only fear of nature drives people to have more control. Like Wagnerax says "Warré hives can be easily inspected."
So-called uninspectable hives are not illegal in most places. Check the regulations of your country and do what you have to do, to help save the bees...
There are some professional apiaries that keep bees in Warré hives and their number is growing. Moving fixed comb hives is not impossible but needs extra comb attachment possibilities. (Like a thin wooden vertical spile in the center of the topbars. There are other ways too.)
Pollination of monocultures is not something beekeepers should support. It's a huge problem! Monocultures need pesticides. Pesticides kill all life. Besides, if farmers would create a healthy varied habitat for pollinators, there would be no need to transport beehives because the bees could sustain themselves all year round.
Apicentric beekeeping practices help to keep bees as natural as possible. Like this they can regain their natural vitality.