Beekeeping in Skeps

Over 70 members from East Devon and West Dorset BKA enjoyed an interesting talk by Chris Park who came to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for beekeeping in skeps.  Chris Parks and skep

When he first decided to keep bees Chris joined a local bee club and was well supported in his quest to develop his approach. Initially he kept bees in fixed frame hives and gradually transferred to skep beekeeping. He still uses some fixed frame hives on his farm – ‘to keep the Bee Inspector happy’ – and to act as a control.

Chris intuitively felt a skep hive was the ‘right thing’ for the bees and now after several successful years he is sure that ‘beekeeping in skeps is good for the bees… but not necessarily good for the beekeeper!’ He has only lost one colony, which was subject to excessive damp.

Skep 2He gave a potted history of the evolution of beekeeping, from tree beekeeping, to the provision of hollow logs to act as hives to make the honey more accessible. The word ‘skep’ is Anglo-Saxon for basket and the structure and materials used vary according to geographical location.   Chris has gradually developed his own style of skep and now uses a wooden base with legs to lift the hive and a mesh floor to help to manage varroa. His skeps are made of straw, 16″ in diameter and 14″ deep, with slender willow stakes inserted through the skep walls help to stabilise the comb. Chris has noticed that the bees will always choose to build their comb in the cold way. Surplus stores are collected in smaller straw skeps, which are placed over the hole in the top of the main colony. Supplementary feeding can also be given through the top of the skep.Skeps

Chris answered a wide variety of questions from the floor and took time to stress that although he was confident that skeps suited both him and his bees, he was respectful of other approaches and simply welcomed the opportunity to share his experiences.

The evening was rounded off with tasty refreshments and plenty of discussion … generated from the thought provoking talk we had all enjoyed.

Click here to read a more detailed account of  the talk.

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