Comments on: Keeping Bees in Skeps: My Continuing Journey in Straw

By: Diana A

Diana A — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 22:51:06 +0000

Nice article! I am setting out to have bees mainly for pollination and to give bees homes. Do you still make skeps? Do you sell them?

Thank you.
Diana Auerhammer

By: Jackie

Jackie — Sun, 16 May 2021 17:24:06 +0000

I just bought a skep at a flea market it has loop on top and latch in middle and a floor. Are they meant for hanging? I I just put in my garden will I do more damage that good to the bees ?. It would go under eave so somewhat protected from rain. Should it be in sun or shade

By: Julia Corbally-Carson

Julia Corbally-Carson — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 18:22:35 +0000

Thank you for sharing your experience. I love the look of skeps. I will continue to learn about them.

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By: Rosie

Rosie — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 16:19:23 +0000

Hi Susan . I also make skeps for my bees. I wondered about your binding material as the rattan lapping cane favoured in the uk has few suppliers and is increasingly expensive.

By: Michele M.

Michele M. — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 21:10:07 +0000

Wow- good for you! This is amazing. With your knowledge, hard work and understanding you make Skep keeping safe for those precious life-giving pollenators! Thank you for being responsible and careful. Your learning how to weave skeps is very impressive.

I wish you life’s best. Thank you for saving the bees – we are in a world of hurt with populations so down. Yes….one person CAN make a difference. Wishing you joy, good health and happiness tenfold.

By: Paul H

Paul H — Fri, 01 May 2020 12:15:44 +0000

To address a couple of comments from others:

Michael – no you do not need to destroy the bees in skeps to harvest the honey. You drum them out. By the way is it true there are bees in northern American states who simply kill their bees each winter as it is cheaper to buy new ones than try to get them through a really cold winter? I have read this a few times but I am not sure if it is true.

In “The Bee master of Warrilow” by Tickner Edwardes, written around 1920, an old beekeeper (who has switched to wooden hives) recalls how he did indeed sulfur his skep bees as a lad, and reflects that he has no idea why they did this as it was straightforward to just drum them out – it was just what he’d been taught to do. Analogous to people pouring miticides into hives now because they don’t question what they’re taught. From this and other reading I think about 50% of skep users did this and 50% did not. Bear in mind that swarms and forage was so plentiful then that people didn’t thikof bees as something you needed to conserve, they were an expendible resource.

Beth, I bought a skep online. It was not really fit for purpose, sides were about half an inch thick, basically like a laundry basket. A good skep has walls well over an inch thick, so beware.

Robert, skeps CAN be extended. You can weave them with holes in the top and then they stack. I am not sure why you view swarms as a problem, or why you think an untreated hive where the bees CAN EXPRESS THEIR NATURAL DISEASE /PEST CONTROL BEHAVIOUR would be more diseased than one where humans meddle all the time. Certainly the wild colonies in my village in England would disagree – there are at least 6, ranging from 2 to 18 years continuous occupation. (No one’s quite sure about the ones in one house’s roof, they could be up to 30 year old colonies.)

By: Paul H

Paul H — Fri, 01 May 2020 11:59:32 +0000

Fabulous. I went on a skep weaving workshop a few years ago with Chris Park here in England – I managed about 2 coils in the entire day. He has a skep apiary in Britain, see http://www.acorneducation.com though he isn’t the fastest person at answering emails. I recall him saying the test of a good skep was whether you can stand on it 8) He uses shelters to help weatherpoof his skeps.

Re: eco floors, I have seen varying reports about whether tree cavities have grunge at the bottom or proplised floors. Eventually I had a chance to meet Tom Seeley and asked him, and another beek who has opened many such trees which were about to be felled to rescue the bees. They both said that the floors are covered in debris etc until the comb reaches 1 t 2 inches from the floor, whereupon the bees clean and propolise it.

I have read some Victorian bee books. They sometimes discuss skeps and one issue they didn’t like about them was they harboured pests like spiders, which is one reason they were so keen on “scientifically designed” wooden hives.

By: Tammi

Tammi — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 21:35:32 +0000

Thank you for sharing the information you’ve gathered, Susan. I think it’s fortuitous that I found your post today and I will be beekeeping in this manner. I don’t need much honey at all and I haven’t liked any other method I’ve ever read about. Taking the bees honey, feeding them sugar, not allowing them to swarm, using chemicals and plastic, all go against the natural ways of bees. It’s no wonder they suffer so much in our modern world. I am also planting acres of clover and sainfoin. Is there any chance of having you share some current photos of your setup? Thank you

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 22:05:55 +0000

I just wanted to leave a bit of an update about my skeps, and address the comments below: I AM NOT A HONEY COLLECTOR. That is not why I keep bees. Commercial and conventional folks have a totally different view of bees and their keeping. Skep keeping–with a small number of backyard hives simply is nothing like keeping Langs. My bees swarm very often (which I like), I intervene little in the hives. My historic and current reading about skep keeping tells me that there are simply not epidemic outbreaks of ghastly diseases in small skep apiaries. Bees in these small hives, not enslaved to constant honey production and chemical toxins in the hive, become different bees. They are a bit crankier, as they are allowed to remain quite wild. Yet I need no gear to work them. I think that conventional keepers toss out this line about disease and how bees need to be inspected so they don’t kill off neighboring bees with their terrible illnesses. In truth, how many people do YOU know who have had foulbrood outbreaks in their backyards? And if they have, what kind of hive style are they using?d Mites are everywhere, so no need to inspect for them. They will travel on drones, on foragers, and onto robbers. I’m certain some of your bees have come by and left mites with mine. So what? Beens need to be able to manage the mite issue on their own, as chemical responses have been dismal to date.

So, conventional folk, there is nothing you can say to me that will have any influence as to how I keep my lovely bees. This is because THIS METHOD WORKS IN MY YARD, WITH MY BEES. Why should I consider a different route just to be able to inspect my hives? I live in a different reality than most conventional keepers. Their issues are not mine. I have no need to “get” anything from my bees other than joy. Folks who are new to all this: I only ask you to be aware of the fact that conventional and alternative methods of beekeeping are simply not compatible with each other. There is no dialogue to be had. You either have faith in one method, or another. I am pleased with natural beekeeping, and am not trying to get anyone on board with me. I only say, “there are many, many ways to bee.”