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Step 3: Attach the Legs
To add some legs to our Warre Hive Floor, we will need to cut the following wood pieces:
- 4 legs measuring 10cm tall by at least 4cm wide (3 15/16″ tall by at least 1 9/16″ wide) 2×4′s cut to 3 15/16″ tall make good legs.
- 4 feet measuring 10cm by 10cm square by at maximum 2cm thick (3 15/16″ by 3 15/16″ square by at maximum 13/16″ thick)
Take one of the legs and lay one of the feet on it. Center the foot over the post and fasten it in place.
Finish the other three legs in the same manner, attaching the feet of the legs to the posts.
Now we can take our four legs and arrange them under the floor. Once you have aligned them to your liking, fasten them in place from the top, fastening through the floor into the legs .
Here is a view of the underside so you can see how I aligned the feet on my floor.
Congratulations! You have completed the Warre Hive Floor. In the next section, we will build the Warre Hive Box.
Go on to the Warre Hive Box →
9 responses so far ↓
john // February 18, 2009 at 9:53 am |
What is the angle of the hive entrance?
Nick // February 18, 2009 at 2:58 pm |
john – Good question! I don’t cut my hive entrances to an exact angle, but my average is about 45 degrees.
Bees can crawl up a 90 degree angle, so you can do away with the chiseling altogether if you want.
john // February 20, 2009 at 1:25 pm |
thanks for the answer nick i can work
abit of a slope in now, another question is , can you or would it be adviseable to make the landing board a little bit wider for the bees to land on? saving afew misses.
Nick // February 24, 2009 at 6:07 pm |
john – You can add another inch or two if you want to. I don’t usually make any changes to the landing board. Just more adds more work.
Logan MacGregor // May 11, 2009 at 5:53 pm |
The legs are sure fancy, but I just use concrete blocks for my hives. This means no wood-t0-ground contact so I don’t have to deal with rot. Also, my hives get closer to the ground. According to Warre himself (and I have witnessed this myself), bees laden with pollen or honey may land on the ground and need to get back up because the weight of their load. The taller the floor from the ground, the harder this is for the bees. Besides, you can usually find some concrete blocks or bricks laying around somewhere and they are easy to level — just dig the dirt around the bricks until you get it the way you want. Put the floor (sans feet) on the bricks or blocks and you are good to go.
Nick // May 28, 2009 at 9:10 pm |
Logan – Actually, the legs on the beehive are not that tall…in fact they are the exact height Emile Warre recommends on page 46 of “Beekeeping for All” Concrete blocks can transfer moisture to your beehive, so I don’t like to use them that much. They do provide a very solid base though.
Logan MacGregor // July 25, 2009 at 6:39 pm |
It doesn’t matter. I built two Warre’s like you mentioned, and both refused to build down when I added a new box underneath according to the Warre method. I even baited one by bringing a comb down and they still wouldn’t go. My Kenyan Top Bar Hive is performing beautifully, so I’m sticking with Langstroths and horizontal top bar hives. Sorry, but in my experience Warre isn’t worth the effort. I’ll be giving away my Warre boxes with the observation windows. Nice site, I hope others have better luck but I don’t want to do Warre boxes any more.
chris // September 13, 2009 at 12:30 pm |
so will the bees build their comb down on to the bottom board?
Denise Chevalier // January 19, 2010 at 9:03 am |
A small group of us are building 4 hives and it’s going very well, thanks for the plans. About the entrance — the chisel cut is 90 degrees on our floors, how did you get the angle at 45 degrees? It’s a nice detail. Did you rasp it away to 45 after the initial wood removal? Exact description would be appreciated! (Even though it doesn’t matter to the bees…)
Also, do we need a queen excluder? And are there construction plans for the bee feeder? thanks!