There is so much to update you on, I’m not sure where to begin, but I think I will start with the bees. This is our second year with the bees, we went into the winter last year with 4 hives and I’m happy to report that we didn’t lose any of them! Early in the spring Peer checked each hive and found one or two that were running out of food so he fed them enough to get them through til the willows began producing pollen and the bees would begin producing their own food again.
I forgot to mention that we moved the bees in the very early spring, before they began leaving the hive. They use to live right beside my studio and our veggie garden. This spot was a bit crowded and made it not so convenient to work in the garden during the afternoon hours because the bees were flying directly overhead. We moved them to a larger, less active area on the other side of the house. I think they like it there and I like having them there :O)
There are many different systems for keeping bees; different philosophies, methods, different hive arrangements and construction designs, etc. Last year we were using the typical framed hives found here in northern Germany, the ones you see in the picture above. These require quite a bit of care and hands-on maintenance. We personally feel that for a backyard beekeeper it’s more beneficial/healthier/less stressful for the bees if they are left pretty much to do their own thing without a lot of interference from humans. We wanted to try a less hands-on approach, after all, bees have been doing their own thing for millions of years without humans telling them how to do it!
We decided to try a different system, one which was designed specifically with this philosophy in mind. The system was designed by Emile Warre’, who was a village priest in France, during the 1920’s. Peer got a translated version (in english and german) of his writings which include the instructions for building the hives and he just spent several weeks building 5 new hives. The biggest difference with these new hives is that they are much smaller, they do not have frames, they have smaller flight holes and they can be built without needing a lot of specialized materials. Because they can be built with scrapes of lumber and things that most people probably have laying around the property, they are called the poorman’s beehive. The next few pictures show the construction process.
The first thing Peer did was to make a shopping list for all the lumber he would need since we didn’t actually have any here that wasn’t already planned for something else. The lumber yard cut all the pieces to the specifications that Peer gave them.
Peer began by building 20 box frames, 4 boxes for each hive. There is no bottom and no top, just the sides.
These are the roofs…
And the bottoms…
After all the pieces were assembled they needed to be treated to keep them from rotting in the weather. Peer used a mixture of hot linseed oil and melted beeswax, which he painted onto every single piece.
Then set them out to dry…
Instead of frames, which have machine formed wax comb (as seen in the image below)…
…this system uses 9 thin slats of wood per box, each with a single strip of beeswax painted down the center. The strip of beeswax shows the bees where, and in what direction they should build their combs, without actually doing the job for them.
First peer melted wax that we collected during last year’s honey harvest and then just painted it on with a paintbrush. He set the pan of hot wax over a tee light so that the wax wouldn’t harden as he worked.
He had to paint 180 of these!
The next step was to nail all of these prepared slats into the boxes, 9 in each box. They had to be nailed so that the distance between each slat was the same so that the bees will build in a consistent manner.
A completed box…
Actually this system calls for 8 slats per box but there is a theory that by using 9 slats, thus creating a narrower working space, the bees will build smaller cells which may greatly reduce the likelihood of mites.
There are a few steps I didn’t capture on film but these were the main ones. After all the pieces were ready, Peer put them together to form 5 complete hives and stored them until we would need them.
What we are going to do is slowly phase out of the old system and as our bees swarm we will move the swarms into the new boxes…now all we need is a swarm!
Stay tuned!
P.S. If anyone is interested in learning more about this system, just drop us a line!
[...] June 3, 2008 by lavendercreek We’ve been anxiously awaiting one so that we could begin establishing the new hives that Peer built [...]
Is this what is known as a Warre hive? We are considering a move to that design with small cell foundation to see if we can improve our chances of overwintering bees in Interior Alaska.
Pity you don’t have a photo of how Peer attached the wax strips to the top bar- just pinched them on with the slat?
Hi, yes these are Warre hives. I think this system would definitely be worth a try for you! Peer mentioned that this design, being smaller and better insulated, makes it easier for the bees to keep themselves warm with less effort.
Hmmm, I might be misunderstanding your question about attaching the wax strip. Peer melted wax and painted a strip of wax onto each slat. This is only meant to show the bees where to build their comb and in what direction to build it. He nailed the slats in place and instead of 8 which is what the original design calls for, he added 9 slats in the hopes that the bees would build smaller cells, if they had to work in a narrower space. If this didn’t answer your question let me know and I will try again
Hi there,
I enjoyed reading your article very much. Just finished building my first hive. I was wondering whether you find the linseed- bees wax coat enough to protect the wood? I would be so happy to find a non toxic solution for preserving soft wood.
Thanks,
Adam in wet wet England.
Nice job, guys!
I use a 20:1 mix of linseed oil and beeswax, which works well. If you build hives with Western Red Cedar, they don’t need any protection.
We have a lively forum that includes Warré and other vertical hives at http://www.biobees.com/forum and David Heaf’s translation of Warré’s book can be downloaded from warre.biobees.com
Hello Adam,
I have used exactly what Phil recommends, I am quite happy with it. In fact, I got the idea from his book (The Barefoot Beekeeper), which is available on lulu.com. Without that I would have used pure boiled lineseed oil, which is also good for protecting wood.
I like the book a lot and do highly recommend it – it is a good combo of factual information, philosophy and inspiration. Very usable even when you don’t use his system (horizontal top bar hives) exactly. I also happen to agree wholeheartedly with his ideas about commercial versus small-scale bee keeping.
Thanks for writing it, Phil.
Anyway … The one hive that is active since this year’s early summer is still fine; only the roof boards are already grey. I think I will put on a new roof element (I have some in reserve) with the next spring visit, and take the current one in for re-oiling and using on next year’s swarms.
Greetings,
Peer
[...] http://lavendercreek.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/what-about-those-bees/ [...]
Hi I have just built my first beehive a Warre and went along an event held by the local association of beekeepers to find out about membership and courses (hope to get bees next spring). Told the Secretary of the club I had a Warre. He had never heard of them, so I explained about it. He told me I would have to check the hive every week to see if the bees were about to swarm and if I didn’t they would swarm. I would also have to check it for disease. I understood that Warre’s only needed opening once a year.
What is the truth?
Peer here.
The truth is, that there are many different methods of keeping bees. Some are geared towards maximum honey harvest, some are not. Some tend to consider the needs of the bee keeper, some more the needs of the bees. Some are designed around a complicated way of handling bees and materials, some tend to be more simple and cheap.
Warre’ bee keeping yields a lot less honey per hive. Around here, one could expect about 5 – 15 kg of honey per hive, while commercial or semi commercial bee keepers typically harvest between 25 and 40 kg. That would be with a hive system similar to Langstroth or Dadant in the US and France, Nationals in the UK and Zander and Deutsch-Normal in Germany.
They do that by keeping the bees from swarming in late spring, but also by harvesting twice a year, trying to get them up and running as early as possible in the year, feeding them up with sugar sirup in late summer and so on. For that the hives have to be openend often.
The busiest time for sifting throught the whole hive, pulling every single comb about every 7 to 10 days, is about 4 – 8 weeks in spring (in this here climate zone), when one would look for queen cells, which are then removed again and again, in the hope to keep a swarm from happening (which appearantly often works), so the bees stay together, don’t export bees and honey to form a new hive. That way they are in greater force to collect honey for the bee keeper.
When swarming time is over (around here about end of May, beginning of June), the bees are left alone more, unless one would do some serious queen raising or other tricks.
Beekeepers associations usually go with a system like that, so it’s not too strange that people like that would stand for that kind of system. And it certainly works.
With a Warre’ hive, it is possible to pull combs, but it’s more cumbersome. However, Warre’ bee keepers often let swarms happen, feeling that they get enough honey for themselves and their family anyway, and try to catch the swarms to form new hives. And leave the bees alone as much as possible, so they are not as stressed and thereby perhaps more robust and resistant.
But you can still pull combs in an emergency, such as a serious illness. In some jurisdictions, this is necessary, because the local bee inspector might require it, then. I hear this is the case in some areas of the US. I really wouldn’t know about the UK.
I currently would certainly open the hive in late summer, to check for mites, and to do a mite treatment if necesarry. This is something Warre’ didn’t have to deal with in his time, but we do. So …
But Warre’, in his book, talks a lot about splitting and mixing hives, feeding, rearing queens in a more natural way and so on. So Warre’ himself, while slightly favouring leaving the bees alone for the most part, did have and use methods that required opening of the hives.
It’s really a matter of taste, philosophy and purpose.
As for the truth, personally I do not really believe in one absolute truth. There are usually several truths for different people.
If there is still something unclear about this, don’t hesitate to ask further. While I am certainly no expert, I will answer, as far as I can.
Regards,
Peer