I may be wrong, but I believe that it is illegal to keep bees in skeps in the US. In order to get the honey out you would have to destroy the hive.
I think you have to use a moveable frame hive (ie the box) There are some nice alternatives to dress up a hive if you want to make it a focal point in your garden (I have an angled copper roof on one of mine...)
I've heard too that some state ag departments have rules against keeping bees in skeps, although I don't know it for a fact. I've always understood it to be due to disease control issues, skeps being much more difficult than modern hives which can be scraped and torched if needed.
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows the history of beekeeping. When did we first begin to use the modern hives, and what were things like before that? I'm guessing that before the invention of modern hives, beekeeping was sort of a temporary affair, with the occasional swarm being caught and kept in a skep maybe for the season. I can't imagine the hive lasting the winter in them, and of course when it was time for honey collection, the comb would have to be removed.
I seem to remember seeing some skeps available in recent years, intended for decorative use only, maybe in one of the bee supply catalogs. I bet than an online search would turn up something.
a bee gum is a hollowed out log.They were called gums because they were usealy made from red or black gum trees.They were used up to the 20th century.they were used prodominatley used in the south east.
yarnoverboard
patrick_nh
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patrick_nh
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