When comparing Warré vs Flow, the Slant community recommends Warré for most people. In the question“What are the best beehive designs for sustainable beekeeping?” Warré is ranked 1st while Flow is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Warré is:
The roof and quilt box help to minimise heat loss through the top of the hive / make the thermal dynamics of the hive more similar to a hollow tree (where the trunk above the hollow would provide insulation).
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Pros
Pro Insulated top
The roof and quilt box help to minimise heat loss through the top of the hive / make the thermal dynamics of the hive more similar to a hollow tree (where the trunk above the hollow would provide insulation).
Pro Can be nadired / under supered
The space in the hive can be increased by nadiring (i.e. adding new boxes under existing boxes as the existing boxes fill). This means less empty space in the hive, making it more thermally efficient (and thus simpler for the bees to control temperature / more likely to survive the more extreme temperatures).
Pro Honey is stored above the brood
The honey provides an insulating layer which aids the hive's temperature regulation.
Outside of equatorial regions, the brood naturally moves upwards into the honey supply during winter feeding. Thus having the honey above the brood avoids bees not finding their honey supply and starving during winter.
Pro Easy to build
Instead of purchasing one, it's fairly simple to build your own at a fraction of the cost. Instructions are freely available online:
Pro Easy honey extraction
By simply turning a tap honey will flow out of your hive.
Cons
Con Expensive
Because of the complexity of the hive it cannot be self-built by most people, and can only bought from a single manufacturer; thus allowing them to charge a premium for this product.
Con Plastic Comb
This means you can only get liquid honey; not honeycomb. Also, it is also believed by many that the natural wax is superior to plastic for a number of reasons:
- Plastic causes "off-gassing"; i.e. the release of airborne particulates / chemicals, dubbed volatile organic compounds, which may be harmful to the health of the hive.
- The cell size is fixed. Cell size relates to the sex of the bees produces, so this restricts the bees ability to alter their drone:worker populations.
- Bees communicate by vibration; natural (wax) comb will vibrate as expected, whilst plastic will not.
- Wax can store pheromone information which may be important (though as yet there is no science to support or discount this claim).