# New warre install Ques



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

Sounds fine to me.


----------



## wagnerwoodworks (Mar 11, 2015)

You installed a package of bees, you say? One option would be to install the bees in an empty hive (2 - 3 boxes); give them a couple weeks to draw out new comb, begin laying eggs, and storing a little bit of nectar (or sugar syrup as nectar). Once that happens, super the box of extra comb. The queen likely won't lay there and it will give the new bees a place to store nectar when the flow starts. My experience with new packages is that they spend the first 4 weeks establishing brood, and there won't be anywhere to store nectar until that brood hatches out. They won't build comb below and store it there, because they don't store nectar below brood. If you have empty comb, you can use it to super the Warre when timing is right. Otherwise there is a chance that the new package will be so focused on brood production that they miss out on the nectar flow.

Whatever you do though, do not to super a completely empty box; the bees will draw comb in some terribly inventive ways. At the very least, have 4 - 5 drawn combs interspersed with empty bars; the combs will provide a ladder for the young bees to climb on to reach the empty bars.


----------



## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

So with a water where does one put the next box after the first is drawn....above it (where there is a big void to the top bar) or below it ( even though bees apparently won't store nectar below the brood)?
If you don't have drawn water bars do you simply a couple of drawn bars from the first box up or would that be down with a warre? So confusing compared to a Lang.


----------



## wagnerwoodworks (Mar 11, 2015)

WBVC, if you are considering a Warre hive, the best advice I think most other Warre beekeepers would agree with is that you really need to read Warre's book "Beekeeping for All." He explains his logic behind the hive, explains the methods for management and harvest, and contrasts with Langstroth-style hives.

As for your question: Normally in the spring you would add 2 boxes below the 2 boxes the bees overwintered in. This is called nadiring (vs. supering). This would give you a total of 4 boxes. Since you are adding the boxes below, there is very little risk of chilling the brood (as you would if you supered with an empty box too early in the spring). Over winter the bees eat their way up to the top of the hive, and as winter eases, they slowly start working their way back down, filling the empty cells with brood again. As they fill with brood, they continue building new comb downward; they'll eventually start building into the 2 new boxes you put below.

If you attempt to super a Warre with a completely empty box (i.e. just top bars and no comb), you will likely have the bees trying to build UP from the top bar in the 2nd box. Remember that most new bees cannot fly yet, they can only walk and climb. While they could crawl up the walls of the newly supered box, they likely won't. You need to provide some sort of ladder for them. At the very least 4 drawn combs and 4 empty bars, that gives you a better chance that they'll draw out comb properly and fill with honey.

The #1 reason you'd super with a Warre (at least as I see it) is to take advantage of the nectar flow. When the nectar flow comes here in Maryland, it comes hard and fast, then quickly disappears. The Warre process of building comb and moving down can be slow. When it's done by an overwintered hive that is strong, they are usually ready for the nectar flow. If the hive is weak or a new hive, they likely won't be ready. So, supering can be helpful in that case, and it would be similar to supering a Langstroth. Warre even shared a design he used for making section comb, in which he used small frames and would super the box. I haven't tried it; perhaps some day I will.


----------



## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

Thanks...


----------

