[SteveStevenson]

I'm thinking of building a warre hive. I've downloaded the plans from Biobees. Per those plans the inside dimensions of the boxes is an inside measurement of 11 13/16 X 11 13/16. Is it really important to be that precise? Can the bees really tell or will they care if the inside is 12 X12 or even 13 X 13?

 

[Duncan151]

I will bet that they will not care. Look at all the variation in TBH's and even Langs come in several sizes. The bees do not seem to care, nor do they have little tape measures!

 

[Ravenzero]

The first warre box I made, I made it to specifications from the metric dementions,
Next time I will just stick with the 12x12. Americanize it, if you will

 

[The Honey Girl's Boy]

Steve,
One thing about bees, they will set up house keeping in just about any kind of acceptable cavity and do just fine. The only thing I can see that may be a problem when altering hive designs is that it throws another variable in the mix. If you have some kind of problem with the colony and look for answers, depending on the different size, shape, or design, it may create an exception to some advice.

Ernie

 

[SteveStevenson]

Thanks for the responses. Ernie, I understand what you are saying. I don't think it would be a problem if I differ by a fraction of an inch.

 

[dansar]

I vary my dimensions only in the height of the box, keeping to the internal dimensions of 300x300mm. The Original design height is 210mm but in New Zealand and quite likely the USA a box of 240mm high is a better option as bees build up a lot faster than Emile Warre experienced in France.