Warre Hive Summer Tips

A quick visual guide to managing your hive during the summer.
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Captions:
When Abbe Warré designed the Warre hive, he also developed the system of management for it.

When it’s time to add boxes, most Warre Hive users prefer to follow Warré's guidance and add boxes at the bottom of the hive. This is called nadiring. Nadiring is logical and hygienic. It allows old comb to be rotated through the hive regularly by being moved steadily up the stack.

Some Warre users chose to super - that is, add boxes to the top like a Langstroth hive. Note that if you do this, it’s good to have a plan to rotate old comb out of your hive. Over time, wax builds up with environmental and agricultural chemicals that the bees bring back in with them after foraging. In any hive, it is good to have a plan to regularly rotate the oldest comb out.

If you are adding a slatted rack to a hive, it’s smart to do so when you are adding a box so you can do both at the same time.

Slatted racks have a lot of benefits. They offer a break against the direct cold in the winter, and an area for congregation and fanning in the summer, thereby decreasing bearding and traffic congestion in the hive.

They can even allow the queen to lay lower in the bottom box, giving her more room to maneuver, and perception of distance between the entrance and the brood chamber.

If you are a new beekeeper, we recommend never harvesting honey in the first year. Chances are your bees will need all of their stores to try and make it through winter. Double check with beekeepers in your area to find out how many pounds of honey colonies generally need for winter.

Since Warres are designed to be low-maintenance and hands off, harvest is usually done once per year, at the end of the summer and before fall. Many beekeepers prefer to not harvest until spring, to ensure their colonies have access to all of their stores and have the best chance of success at overwintering.

Harvesting honey from a Warre is as simple as taking off the top bow or two that is full of honey. Once harvested and cleaned out, those empty boxes can be added back when the colony is building out in spring.

Music by Orlando Bigo Turner (facebook.com/VintageSoundzProd)
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