the skep

ban gone

bethbot — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:50:43 +0000

honey ribbons tease

from choking, sputtering necks.

victorious gold.

inverted skeps as top-bar hives

bethbot — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:20:46 +0000

I’ve noticed a real interest in top-bar hives these days from beginning backyard and rooftop beekeepers. If you’re as new to this as I am, check out this very useful wiki page, and please visit the wonderful sites of John Caldeira of Texas and Martin Buckle of England for more info, photos, and adventures using inverted skeps as top-bar hives.

Although the word skep is not used in these plans, the Bees for Development project also suggests using an inverted basket to make a low-tech version of a top-bar hive.

Catching Swarms, Making Skeps – in England

bethbot — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:42:17 +0000

Not that there’s an absolute need for you to have or make your own skep, but if you’re feeling crafty and happen to be in West Sussex, England this spring, check out these classes from the Natural Beekeeping Trust, a biodynamic organization promoting skeps as swarm catchers. Supposedly, the pheremones of a used skep stay in the straw, making it more effective at catching future swarms. Until now, it had been my understanding that pheremones of one hive would be somewhat repellent to another hive, but I’ll dig a litte deeper and return to the topic soon enough.