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Abbé Warré's book
Beekeeping for All:

1. Printed edition

2. free e-book (PDF)

The Ecological Hive (La Ruche Écologique) of J-M Frèrès and J-C Guillaume

Above: 1st (left) and 2nd (right) editions

Possibly the most popular variant of the Warré hive is that developed by Jean-Marie Frèrès and Jean-Claude Guillaume as presented originally in their 430-page manual L' apiculture écologique de A à Z (Villelongue-Dels-Monts, 1997). This book has so far been available as a bound printout from a computer in A4 format. However, Jean-Claude Guillaume has produced a second edition, dated 2011, which now comprises two A4 volumes in the same style and format, totalling 804 pages. It is understood that this is to be published in Belgium in early 2012. A publisher is sought who is willing to invest in the translation for an English edition.

It is a book for intended beginners and contains containing dozens of meticulously drawn diagrams which detail, step by step, various beekeeping operations. The approach is informed by many ecological or organic principles. The most important modification to Warré's original design is the introduction of shuttered windows in each hive-body box. The other two notable modifications are the insulated, ventilated roof with an integral quilt that moves up to accommodate a feeder, and the use of mosquito net instead of coarse cloth (hessian/burlap) under the quilt, i.e. the top-bar cloth.

Chapters of the book

Copyright pages; contents of volume; Introduction

1. Transition from skeps to modern hives, 19
2. My personal journey as a beekeeper and my conversion to the more ecological Warré hive, 23
3. Cost benefit analysis of modern versus Warré hives, 31
4. Siting an apiary, 45
5. Constructing the hive, 49
6. Constructing the decontaminator. 91
7. Setting up an apiary, 109
8. The inhabitants of a hive and its organisation, 109
9. Reasons for the formula 4 x '21', 119
10. Tools and equipment, 149
11. How the ecological Warré hive works, 173
12. We add a 4th box, 213
13. Natural swarms and their capture, 217
14. The Warré ecological hive equivalent of shook swarming, 255
15. Control and regulation of temperature and humidity, 291
16. Harvesting honey, 303
17. Honey, 321
18. Wax, 339
19. Propolis, 33
20. Pollen, 359
21. Royal jelly, 365
22. Diseases, parasites and predators, 369
23. Bee communication and orientation, 419
24. My experiments and research, 425
25. Moving a hive, 449
26. Dealing with stings, 453
27. Managing the hive: dos and don'ts, 457
28. How to read the ecological hive, 461
29. How to populate hives, 469
30. Dealing with swarming and making increase, 537
31. Partial bee transfer, 541
32. Multiple bee transfer, 589
33. Splits, 605
34. Melliferous plants and trees, 611
35. Beekeeping calendar, 661
36. Recipes, 669
37. How to improve a modern frame hive, 685
38. Swarm composition, queen breeding and artificial insemination, 691
39. Frameless hives

Conclusion; Homage to Abbé Warré; Acknowledgements; List of tables, figures and diagrams; Illustrations; Index pf melliferous plants, shrubs and trees; Index of latin names; Index of indicator flora for different bee seasons; Glossary; General index; State of modern apiculture; Bibliography; Contents; Jean-Marie Frèrès dedication  (pages 701-803)

As indicated above, the book contains a cost-benefit analysis of honey production in 'modern' frame hives versus Warré-ecological hives. The two costings (including the annual time taken per hive for each) have been translated and presented side-by-side in tabular format: guillaume_cost_benefit_analysis_2012.pdf .  

Roof

As the roof is possibly of particular interest for dealing with condensation in cold climates we describe it here in some detail. Its main body is the same outside size as a hive-body box. To create a weather-proof seal with the box on which it rests, 50 mm wide battens are nailed round the lower rim on a 5 mm thick spacer so as to project over the hive body box below and yet give clearance to aid removal. A weather-tight seal is made with silicone along the top rim of the batten. The body of the roof box slopes from 180 mm to 150 mm forming a single-pitch roof and a large cavity big enough to fit a feeder. The roof box is closed at the top with a sheet of thin plywood. On top of that is fixed a 30 mm thick sheet of polystyrene/styrofoam insulation (protection from solar radiation). On top of that is the sloping roof board of plywood of an adequate thickness covered with roofing felt. A 60 mm diameter ventilation hole is bored in each side of the box and covered on the inside with insect/mouse-proof mesh.

A significant further innovation with the roof is that a piece of cloth (wool) is pinned to the inside of the roof near its base to form a seal all round. This cloth normally rests on the mosquito net. On top of the cloth is glued a sheet of 50 mm polystyrene/styrofoam. This assembly is the quilt. There is sufficient slack in the perimeter of the cloth that when a feeder is placed on the top-bars and the roof replaced, the cloth, with the sheet of polystyrene glued to it, is automatically pushed up to accommodate the feeder.

The roof differs from Warré's in a number of significant ways:

• it is almost flat, not gabled,
• it is not used with a quilt,
• vapour entering the roof space can vent to the outside,
• it can contain a feeder,
• it achieves its solar insulation primarily with polystyrene instead of an open 'loft'.

Window

A window of 4 mm glass is fitted to each box on one of the sides not having a handle. Its aperture is 100 x 300 mm and it is set in 7 mm x 4 mm rebates above and below. It is closed on the outside by means of a shutter insulated with polystyrene/styrofoam. A detail of the window construction is shown below.

Having windows in a Warré hive is likely to appeal especially to the beginner. You can see to a certain extent what is going on inside, especially how far the comb has developed downwards. However, it is surprising how little of the life inside the hive is visible compared with removing and examining frames. Experienced beekeepers therefore may prefer to rely on information obtained from observing the hive entrance or, if necessary, by tilting one or more hive boxes to look underneath. It is doubtful if the windows justify the extra complexity and cost of construction involved. Furthermore, the use of polystyrene and glass increases the embodied energy and use of petrochemicals, both of which detract a little from the sustainability of this variant. Warré managed without windows and so do a number of contemporary Warré beekeepers.

Above: Views through a window before and after populating a hive

The information on this page was obtained from L' apiculture écologique de A à Z, by Jean-Marie Frèrès and Jean-Claude Guillaume (Villelongue-Dels-Monts, 1997 & 2011) and the lower three images from David Heaf's Warré experiment page.

Chronicle No. 1 introducing the hive in its latest form (2013)

More about the hive in French:

http://ruche-warre.levillage.org/La%20ruche%20%E9cologique.htm