Day #100 Warré Hives

Warré (pronounced war-ray) hives look like regular old beehives, except that they are top-bar hives (which means the bees build the cells all by themselves, rather than starting out with pre-formed plastic—i.e. human-made—sheets of foundation). I just found out about Warré hives on the internet, and I even downloaded the plans—39 pages that assume one has a table saw. Doggone it!

Now, I figure that bees have been building hives for 140 million years utilizing whatever old hollow trees they could find. So, instead of freaking out about needing a $$$$$$ table $aw $$$$$$$$, I'm going to build some 4-sided boxes without tops or bottoms, throw in some bars across the top of each box, build a roof, and see what the bees do with the result. I'd better use screws instead of nails, so they don't fall apart.

Yeah, I know, I have to be really specific about the distance between the bars if I ever want to steal—er—harvest honey. I can do that. Of course, with the way I build, those boxes are liable to look a bit lop-sided. But, hey, they're going on my back deck, and I can't imagine the bees will give a hoot anyway.

BEEattitude for Day # 100:

       Blessed are those who do the best they can with what they have, for they shall never be uptight. 

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       My dad, who taught me how to swing a hammer     

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