Warré hives (see ecological sustainability, alternative hive) require less maintenance than Langstroth hives as Emile Warré intended for the beekeeper to open the hive only once a year, at harvest time 1 . This means that having such a hive would involve less “hands on” experience. Does that mean less interactions with the students and less learning opportunities? Of course not. As the LFSOG is intending to be an outdoor classroom in coalition with the Faculty of Education, having a Warré hive can be a good opportunity to promote learning by observing and not by disrupting. That is, trying to learn from the honey bees within their ecosystem without pulling them apart, without simplifying their complex behaviour and above all, disturb them as rarely as possible. Also, less disturbed bees in a Warré hive are less likely to cause stinging issues around the LFSOG, because individuals are most commonly stung when the hive is being opened.
Warre hive. Retrieved from https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2745/4349019479_7aaafd108d.jpg
In terms of production, both hives are quite different. Top-bar hives tend to produce 20 to 50 percent less honey than a Langstroth hive, but they produce significantly more wax because the bees build their own honeycomb each year 1 . This increased wax production means that a beekeeper can diversify and start making many products other than honey as a part of their endeavor, such as beeswax candles (that do not release petroleum residue in the air as parafin candles do) 1 .
In addition to the quantity of honey collected, it is worth noting that it is easier to harvest honey from a Warré hive, compared to a Langstroth model 1 . Boxes do not need to be carried to a centrifuge: instead, the honey is cut off the bars and placed into a bucket. The honeycombs are then crushed, and the honey is filtered from the wax 1 . Quantity wise, comments on a blog called The Bee Space2 (n.d.) shared that one Warré beekeeper was able to harvest over two gallons of honey per box, which is close to 8 litres. However, quantity of honey is highly variable and depends on factors such as the number of bees and available foraging sources, among others.
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1 Gerard, Robert. June 2004. Building a Better Beehive. Retrieved from http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/June04_beehive.pdf
2 The Bee Space (No Date). Retrieved from http://thebeespace.net/warre-hive/