'My question is.. what happened to Warre hives in between 1948 and 2006?'
 
Surely the answer is 'very little'.   Warre produced his design to help poor
French parishioners get some honey at minimum cost just after the war.
Times changed, understanding of bee biology improved, systems were worked
out for controlling swarming and disease and so getting higher yields,
albeit with higher capital cost in more elaborate hives, but economic in
relation to higher yields. 

The resurgence of interest in Warre and top bar  comes from a new generation
of hobbyists who like the romantic idea that the bees know best,  just let
them be, if they swarm then its natural .   This may work in deep rural
areas but is irresponsible in urban areas where lost swarms can invade roofs
and chimneys  and cause innocent householders money to remove them. The
difficulty in inspecting brood both for swarm preparations and disease will
lead to increase in both, to the detriment of other beekeepers around. 

Personally (as a beekeeper who has to spend considerable time moping up
other peoples' swarms to avoid beekeeping getting a bad reputation in my
home town) I hope the interest in this false idea of natural is best will
subside before all beekeeping has to be regulated.  

Robin 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm