First of all, I tell them, it's the "People's Hive", Abbe Emile Warre is the man who created the hive and the management method for it. As a matter of fact, he wrote a book detailing the making of the hive, how to manage it and the background of how he got to that point.
There are getting to be more vendors online who are building the People's Hive and selling them. They pitch the hive as a minimum maintenance hive that a beekeeper doesn't have to do a lot with except to add boxes to the bottom and harvest honey in late Summer.
I have to say, I have become disgruntled with some of these vendors for being misleading to these new beekeepers and not giving them all the information.
My first advice is if they are going to sell people this hive, then they should include a copy of Warre's book, "Beekeeping For All" as mandatory reading.
Another piece of advice I have is that beekeepers need to keep in mind that Warre made his hive, kept bees and wrote his book at a time and place where many modern beekeeping problems did not exist. He did not have to contend with CCD, Varroa mites, Small Hive Beetle, and many other problems that we face now.
The need to be able to inspect a hive at will is much more important than in his time, even though I agree with his rationale for minimal intrusion into the nest. This isn't to say that one necessarily must inspect the hives very frequently, but that the hive should be able to be inspected easily if the need arises. This means having more of a focus on frames and straight comb rather than the cross-comb top-bars that he prefers.
A beekeeper using the People's Hive MUST gain a knowledge of bee behavior and biology much sooner than the typical new conventional beekeeper will. Also, while I always recommend that people learn to "inspect" a hive by what is going on outside the hive and at the entrance, the People's Hive beekeeper also really, really should become familiar with those skills more immediately if they are going to be successful. I suggest reading Storch's book "At The Hive Entrance" which gives invaluable information to learning exactly those skills.
The ability to gauge what is going on in a hive by external observation will go a long way to minimizing unnecessary, intrusive inspections and preserving the nest environment.
Another thing I suggest to these new "Warre" style beekeepers is to understand the difference between a "hive" and a "nest". A "nest" is the wax comb that the bees live in. They store food in it and the queen lays eggs and they raise their brood in it. A "hive" is the physical container or void space that the bees build their nest in. To make the best use of and have understanding of Emile Warre's methodology, it is helpful to bear this in mind.
Can a new beekeeper use a People's Hive from the start? I would say the answer is yes with a single caveat, that the beekeeper read Warre's book first.
Tony,
ReplyDeletePerhaps a little harsh on the criticism speaking as someone who I guess would be the "vendor". I guess I will have to re-read my web site information and make sure I am not putting in any misleading statement.
Since Top Bar Hives are now fairly prevalent in the media it is important to distinguish the specific design of TBH. Initially I selected "The Peoples Hive" description and only ran into confusion - so, using less words, I settled on Warre TBH - I think my description solves two important aspects (1) Recognition to Warre (2) Falls directly to the all important Top Bar category.
You must bare in mind, Beekeeping for All, is old French translated to old English. Not the best for today's new generation reading. Obviously the intent must be to make them read and understand.
Not so sure the modern style intervention you speak about is necessary - only my opinion. Warre put utmost importance on maintaining "scent, temperature, humidity" conditions in the hive. An intrusive inspection will destroy the conditions he wanted to maintain. Yes, I was taught by my father who also said one can learn what is happening by spending time observing the entrance i.e. Colony strength (count sorties in and out), identify nector vs. pollen incoming to tell "phase" of colony, smell the health of the bees, listen to the buzz.
Once again, this is just my opnion and I appreciate drawing this matter to all who want to start beekeeping. I found "The Lore of the honey bee" very informative reading in my youth!
Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. There are many vendors selling these hives, not just yourself and I may not have seen your site yet, so please, keep in mind I am generalizing based on those sites I have visited.
DeleteSecondly, keep in mind that the English translation was done in the later 20th century, so it really was as up to date in language and translation as any book could be the original French version written in the early 1900's wasn't necessarily "old French".
As I stated in the post, I didn't say that it was necessary to inspect more frequently, but that the ability to inspect was more important than it was in Warre's time due to dramatic changes in the environment and ecology of the bee nest now as opposed to the conditions he kept bees and wrote his book in.
I should also say that "The Lore of the Honey Bee" is indeed a good book for any beekeeper.
DeleteThank you for your response Tony, greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, my statement was not worded very well. I did not mean it in an "Ye Olde English" way, just in an easy, up-to date way for our new generation potential beekeepers (I am coming up to my mid 70's and had difficulty grasping it ...).
Feel free to visit my website www.raineMaker.com and I am always open to comment and or suggestions.
It's all good. Personally, I think that people learn more by reading the old books, not just about beekeeping but about things like language and how people thought in earlier times. It teaches us about perspective and context in general. It helps us to better thinkers and helps us to write and express our thoughts better. But, that's just me perhaps.
DeleteI'm very glad to have you weigh in on my little blog page here. Sometimes I think that I'm just airing my head out on here with nary a witness.