You can download a copy of Warre’s “Beekeeping for All” at warre.biobees.com

Enjoy!

Katherine

anyone got a copy of this?

thanks
JT

To keep the bees from drowning in the spring feeder, I made a float as in “A” in the diagram above. The slender pieces of wood that were left from cutting the rebates for the hive bodies came in quite handy for this.

Just like you, I melted beeswax to seal the seams of the feeder. It worked pretty well, but the wood of my feeder, being pine, is pretty porous so it soaks up a lot of moisture. I notice that Warre recommends paint to make the fall/winter feeder leakproof. That’s what I plan to use for the spring feeder… if I can get the wax removed well enough for the paint to stick!

A brief description of the fall/winter feeder? Yikes. Well, I’ll give it a shot. To begin with, you have a plain old hive body. The addition of a floor and two partition boards makes it a feeder for the top of the Warre hive.

The floor that goes about 3/4 of the way from the back of the box to the front. It is sloped with the shallow end in the back, so that the syrup flows toward the front. The front edge of the floor abuts a partition wall that goes most of the way, but not all the way, to the top of the hive box. This wall is covered with screen wire so that the bees have good footing and don’t drown. The bees only need access to a narrow pool of syrup. Anything more than that, and you get drowned bees. So Warre has a wall just behind the screened wall I’ve just described. It goes to the top of the box to keep bees from getting behind it, and it is supported on protruding nails on the bottom to let the syrup flow beneath it. The floor is supported by battens, and both walls slide into battens on the hive box walls. A peek at Warre’s diagram in “Beekeeping for All” will help this description make a lot more sense!

Warre suggests topping the feeder with a sheet of glass. I assume this is so you can check the syrup level without unnecessarily opening the hive and releasing scent and heat.

I hope that is helpful. It was a bit of a stretch for me. I’m an artist, and I can’t describe anything well without drawing pictures. ;o)

Lavon, I started looking at Warres because of lifting issues as well, and then found that the whole theory of these hives makes lovely sense. Best wishes with your new hives!

Katherine

I need to read up on the fall feeder in the Beekeeping For All– in the meantime could you please summarize in a few sentences where it goes and how it’s designed?

Also when you built the spring feeder, did you do anything to ensure it is leak proof? This was the other problem I ran into. Mine ended up leaking. I had posted earlier about this but nobody responded about it. I ended up using some beeswax I melted down into the joints of the feeder to make it leak proof.

It was tricky to keep the bees from drowning and so I put lots of little pcs of wood in it.

I am curious what others have used as feeders if you are using the Warre?

thx,
Marika

My spring feeder doesn’t have a floor in it. The surround and drawer are placed directly on the bottom board, which acts as their “floor.” That way the surround of the feeder is just an extension of the hive body above it, and the entrance is left open.

My feeder holds about 1 3/4 cups of honey syrup, which is fine for now, and it’s easy to refill. I don’t think it’s enough, though, for fall feeding. I am planning to build a fall/winter feeder as per Warre’s “Beekeeping for All.” I’ll let you know how that goes.

“Beekeeping for All” is very helpful, and available as a free download. I think everyone with a Warre hive should have a copy. I do find, though, that for things like building the feeders, I have to re-read and think through it several times before I understand it enough for me to duplicate them.

That’s where sites like this can be a lot of help. So, as Marika suggests, chime in please everybody!

Katherine

Another question – what are you going to do for fall/winter feeding? No one on this site has mentioned any recommendations for a feeder for fall/winter for Warre. I am in zone 5.

I am a bit disappointed that there is no timely answer to any of my questions that I have been putting up on this website.

This is the only source there seems to be for Warre hives and unfortunately, I am feeling in the dark and on my own now having gone with Warre hives. I was hoping for more support.
Am hoping that some others can chime in, Please!!

I am thinking of moving my drawer feeder up on top of the hive, under the quilt for the fall and winter and putting a hole behind the drawer in the floor of the surround so the bees can get up to the feeder. I’m not sure this will work or will make sense – but it was something I have been contemplating realizing that I need to DO ‘Something’ and I feel like I have to just figure it out on my own at this point.

So please please chime in folks – I could use some help…. maybe some others out there who are checking this website may need it as much as I do too….

thanks,
Marika