Autumn: 2026
🌱 Natural Farming
The connection between honey and permaculture
usually focuses on the design of "food forests" and
diverse spaces where beehives fulfill a systemic
function.
The approach: Bees are not fed with
artificial sugar syrups, nor are harsh chemical
treatments used for pests like Varroa. They are
allowed to keep enough of their own honey to
overwinter and build their own natural wax combs
(without commercial pre-formed sheets).
The result: Honey harvested under this
concept is a byproduct of pollination and biological
balance. It is a raw honey, multi-floral by
definition, and with a very high load of intact
medicinal properties, since it does not undergo
pasteurization or industrial filtering processes
that degrade pollen and enzymes.
Recent Projects and Trends
In various regions of Spain and Latin America,
agroecological communities and cooperatives are
registering brands of forest or native meadow honeys
under biodynamic and permaculture management.
Although they often lack a traditional official
"certification seal" (because state standards are
designed for industrial or classic organic
production), they are making their way into local
markets through Sustainable Agricultural Production
seals and fair trade systems.
Industry news highlights that this type of
beekeeping is functioning as a barrier of resistance
against the alarming decline of pollinators caused
by monocultures and the massive use of
agrochemicals.
A golden rule of the hive in permaculture:
"The priority is the health of the swarm and its environment; honey is the surplus gift that nature shares when the system is truly in balance."
The Warré and Kenyan (TBH - Top Bar Hive)
hives
are the two great favorites in permaculture
design because they respect the natural behavior
of bees much more than the traditional hive of
industrial beekeeping (the famous Langstroth).
While the commercial hive seeks maximum
production and the beekeeper's convenience for
extraction, alternative models are designed from
the bee's perspective.
Here are the key differences in their management
and structure:
Warré Hive (The "Ecological" Hive)
Designed by the French abbot Émile Warré in the
early 20th century, it seeks to mimic the inside
of a hollow tree trunk.
Growth from below: Unlike the traditional
hive where new boxes are placed on top, in the
Warré hive, new boxes are added at the bottom.
This respects the natural dynamics of the swarm,
which tends to build combs downward and store
honey at the top.
Heat conservation: By not opening the
hive from the top constantly, the heat nest is
not lost, nor are the aromas and propolis with
which bees disinfect their home.
Minimal intervention:It is designed to be
opened ideally only once a year (to harvest the
surplus from the top boxes).
Kenyan or Top Bar Hive (TBH)
It is one of the oldest and most efficient
structures, optimized in the 1970s in Kenya to
be built with local and accessible materials. It
is a horizontal box with sloped sides.
Horizontal management: There is no need
to lift heavy boxes full of honey. All
management is done by removing individual bars
along a single level, making it very friendly
and accessible.
Sloped sides: The walls have a specific
angle (usually around 30°). This is a brilliant
design trick: bees, by instinct, do not attach
the combs to sloped walls, allowing the bars to
be removed cleanly without breaking anything.
The Importance of Natural Wax
In traditional beekeeping, bees are given a wax
sheet already printed with the cell size to save
them work. The problem is that this commercial
wax usually comes with accumulated residues of
chemical acaricides from many different
apiaries.
In the Warré and Kenyan hives, bees
secrete
their own wax from scratch. This not only
guarantees a toxin-free home, but also allows
them to decide the exact cell size they need
(for example, larger cells for drones if the
system requires biological balance, something
that commercial beekeeping strictly limits).
By harvesting through pressing, you obtain a
honey loaded with propolis and a wax of absolute
purity, ideal for ointments, natural cosmetics,
or to reincorporate into the garden itself.
