Boxes and Bars

Warré designed his hives with lumber 2 mm thick. Standard American lumber, nominally 1" is slightly thinner (actual ¾"). I mill my own boards from reclaimed wood, cutting them 66% thicker. The darker board at the left is the standard thickness. Thicker material means a stronger, longer-lasting hive box with better insulating quality, an important issue in our cold New England winters. The corner joints in the original Warré were simply overlapped and nailed together for ease in construction. I use the box joints that are the standard for commercial Langstroth hives. These are tighter, stronger and last better.

The picture on the right shows the top bars which the Warré hive uses instead of four-sided frames. The groove in the underside of each bar is filled with beeswax. This guides the bees to build each comb straight and parallel to the box for easy harvesting.

The round knob on the side opens a window so that the hive can be inspected without removing the top. This method is less stressful to the bees (and to the beekeeper as well!), who keep their hive at 95 degrees in an atmosphere of pheremones and propolis. It is truly a window on a fascinating world!

On the left is the side of the hive box that holds the inspection window. The plexiglass window is mounted flush with the inside of the hive and cover is fitted with weatherstripping for a tight seal. You don't need inspection windows, but they make checking on the bees safe, simple and fascinating.

This is my standard Warré top bar. The end notches fit the steps on the sides of the hive box. The groove is filled with beeswax to get the bees started building straight comb across the bottom of the bar.

Few topics produce an angry swarm of beekeepers faster than which is better, top bars or frames?

There are advantages to both designs and proponents of each are quick to point them out, as well as listing the drawbacks of the other.

The points below are just the surface of the topic.

Because foundation gives the bees a headstart, more effort goes into honey production rather than drawing comb. Foundation comb is less fragile and easier to handle. It may be extracted with a centrifuge.

Top bars are simpler and cheaper. Proponents claim that because they allow the bees to control the size of the cells in the comb and because each comb starts from scratch, the top bar system is more natural and less likely to spread parasites and diseases.

In the belief that frame comb is easier to extract and replace in order to inspect the hive for disease, some states require removable frames in hives. It is possible in this case to use a frame without plastic foundation, allowing the bees to build their comb naturally from the top bar of the frame. If you are unsure about whether frames are required in your state, contact your Department of Agriculture or local beekeeper association.