Sustainable bee-friendly beekeeping with the warre hive

I had kept bees in frame hives for four years when I started to experiment with foundationless comb in them. That got me interested in foundationless beekeeping generally and a friend drew my attention to the Warré hive. I built half a dozen of them in 2006 hand have since switched most of my production beekeeping to the Warré hive. Here, I share with you what has been for me a particularly enjoyable nine seasons of beekeeping with the hive. This article is in two parts: the first on the principles and the second on the practice.