Chapter 4: The Warre Hive – Design, Dimensions and Construction Plans
Overview of Chapter Four~
Standard Dimensions (metric – original Warré)
- Internal box size: 300 mm × 300 mm × 210 mm high
- 8 top bars per box (top-bar width approx. 32–36 mm, bee-space gaps of 8–10 mm)
- Floor: ventilated with entrance
- Quilt box: 300 × 300 × 100–150 mm filled with wood shavings or straw
- Roof: sloped, waterproof
Diagram of Warre vs natural tree trunk (core concept):
beecentrichive.com
Construction overview (full plans in Appendix)
Use untreated pine or cedar. Cut boxes with rebates for top bars. Fix top bars with small nails and coat with beeswax starter strips. Full step-by-step with cutting list is in the Appendix. Plans are freely adapted from Warré’s original and modern Irish adaptations.
Example of completed Warre hives in an apiary:
almanac.com
Chapter Four~
The standard Warre box, following the original metric measurements still used by most builders, has an internal size of 300 mm by 300 mm and a height of 210 mm. Eight top bars rest in rebates. Each bar is typically 24 mm thick and 310–320 mm long so the ends sit on the rebates; the comb-bearing width is arranged so that the gap between adjacent combs is about 8–10 mm (bee space) and centre-to-centre spacing falls near 36 mm. Bars are often given a central wax starter strip or a simple triangular bead so bees begin straight.
The floor is a simple rim with a full-width entrance 120 mm wide by 10–12 mm high, or a reduced entrance block for winter. Many Irish keepers add a sliding mouse guard and a mesh floor panel for monitoring natural mite drop, while keeping the mesh covered in winter if draughts worry them. The quilt is a box 100–150 mm high, same footprint as the brood boxes, with a hessian or cotton cloth tacked underneath and filled with dry wood shavings, straw, or hemp. The roof is a telescopic cap with a slope or a simple flat top covered in metal, roofing felt, or cedar shingles, overhanging enough to shed Irish rain.
Construction uses untreated pine, larch, or western red cedar. Treated timber and plywood that off-gasses are avoided inside the nest. Box walls are commonly 25 mm finished thickness. External length and width therefore sit around 350 mm before handles. Corners may be simple butt joints screwed and glued with exterior waterproof glue, or finger joints if you have the tools. Rebates for the bars are 10 mm deep and 10–12 mm wide. A follower board or a simple division is optional; most keepers run the full eight bars.
Hand holds are cut into the short sides or extra cleats are screwed on. Top bars can be retained by small nails or by the quilt cloth pressing them down; many builders add a thin metal or wooden strip at each end so bars cannot slide. Painting is limited to the outside of the roof and the upper edges; the interior stays bare so the bees can propolise it.
A new hive for a first colony needs a floor, two boxes, eight bars per box (sixteen total) with starters, a quilt, and a roof. A third and fourth box are added in the first summer if the flow allows. Full cutting lists, rebate diagrams, and assembly order appear in the appendix; the critical field points are these: the hive must sit level left-to-right so combs are drawn straight down, bars must be parallel and correctly spaced, and the quilt cloth must be flat so bees do not build between it and the bars.
Completed hives in an Irish apiary are usually on stands 400–500 mm high, strapped or weighted against wind, with a clear flight path and a windbreak to the prevailing south-west. The same box design stacks cleanly, so a colony can occupy two boxes in spring and five by August without any change in equipment type.
