Feedback from beekeepers that use the Warré (People's) Hive Questionnaire online survey both in Europe and other parts of the world

Abstract

For a long time in Europe, honey bees were kept in hives made of wicker, cork, and in sections of tree trunks. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that so-called “modern” beehive designs followed one another in large numbers, some of them are commonly used by beekeepers (Dadant, Langstroth, Zander). These hives revolutionised beekeeping practices, mainly through the use of removal frames with wax foundation sheets, honey supers, and honey extractors. L’Abbé Warré (1867–1951) stands out among other originators by prioritizing bee welfare while simplifying the modern beekeeping practices. In 1948, he published a manual for the management of his hive design called “People’s Hive.” Over the last decade, in France and elsewhere in the world, more and more candidates are attracted by the Simplified Beekeeping of L’Abbé Warré. We have surveyed over 151 people, mostly French and German beekeepers, about their perception of this trend, and their evaluation of the benefits and problems of this management. We also wanted to better understand the human-bees relationship from the major reasons why they keep bees and recalling the fondest memories of their beekeeping experiences. Our study highlights a variety of profiles united by a common desire to ensure animal welfare.

Keywords:

• Apis mellifera
• Simplified Beekeeping
• Warré
• questionnaire survey
• Europe

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Sebastian Spiewok (editor of the German beekeeping journal: Deutschen Bienen Journals) for helping to distribute the questionnaire, translated into German and having invited German and Austrian beekeepers using Warré hive to fill out the questionnaire. Thank also to Marco Mantovani for relaying the questionnaire and providing me with a lot of information on Italian beekeeping. Thank you to Aidan Slingsby (The London Beekeepers' Association), Garrett Dempsey (Irish Beekeepers association), Cheryl Wright (Portland Urban Beekeepers) and David Heaf. Finally, thanks to the administrators of the Facebook groups: Beekeeping with the warré hive, Ruche Warré style Barbichou, Apicultura Natural em Portugal, and the forum ruchewarre.net. Many thanks to Scot McPherson, Kevin Lucey, Guy Thompson and Gus O’Connor for their proofreading and their advices.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 But this was Hoffman who developed the frame that Langstroth used in his patented hive (patent 1852).

2 Beekeeping with the Warré hive is referred to as Simplified Beekeeping as opposed to Conventional Beekeeping using standard beehives. It is characterized by specific equipment and pratices that we will present.

3 It is interesting to note that the Warré hive is very similar to the ‘Arnia contadina’ by Luigi Sartori that was descending from the ‘Haraste-Turra Hive’.

4 Below this quantity, it seems that beekeepers do not market their honey production.

5 Yet there would be nothing to prevent beekeepers from installing a window into standard Dadant or Langstroth style equipment.

6 Same as above comment on glazing. Just because it is more common to put windows in Warre hives, this is not a feature that is specifically limited to Warre hives.

7 That's why many respondents use frames.