Be Boles

[Chatbees]

Thought these pictures may interest people. They were taken in a walled garden at West Hall Pleasaunce, Eltham the site of an old Tudor building

 

[pargyle]

Thought these pictures may interest people. They were taken in a walled garden at West Hall Pleasaunce, Eltham the site of an old Tudor building

The history of beekeeping is fascinating - refined sugar was available in England from about 1500 but it was an expensive luxury and honey was the only widely available sweetener. The mind boggles at how many bees were kept in skeps and boles prior to about 1750 when commercially produced sugar became widely available and more accessible (and without getting too political - the slave trade made it a commodity)... even then, amongst the rural population, honey would still have been the prime sweetener and this continued well into the 1800's. I have a copy of a will from one of my ancestors who died in Derbyshire in 1806 leaving his silver chalice and his honey bees to his second son -it doesn't stipulate what sort of hives he had - I suspect they were skeps - or how many he had but they were obviously of some value to him. The first son got the house and farm and my ancestor - the youngest son... looks like he got nothing and his marching orders !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Here's some of the Harpury Bee Bole

 

[pargyle]

Now believed to have been constructed somewhere between 1840 and 1850 .. it demonstrates the continuing importance of honey at the time and perhaps was the last throw of the dice as far as skeps and bee boles were concerned .. Langstroth started out with his framed hives around 1850 ... although others were also experimenting with non-destructive beekeeping before and around that time. If beekeepers were as slow in taking up new ideas as some are now .... it's a wonder we ever moved to frames !!

 

[oxnatbees]

I'm guessing Pargyle is descended from the second son!

Just to illuminate a misconception about skeps: they weren't necessarily a destructive form of beekeeping. About half the references I've found refer to sulfuring (killing) the bees for the honey and half to drumming them out into another skep. In The Bee Master of Warrilow written around 1910, the Bee Master (who converted to famed hives at the end of the 19th century) discusses this and says "looking back I have no idea why we sulfured them, it was unecessary and just what we'd been taught."

To put this in context, I'd heard various references to Canadian beekeepers routinely killing their colonies as it was easier and simpler to buy new packages from the USA than try to overwinter them in Canada. You can find a couple of hits on this if you google it, but there is more detail in Steve Donohoe's recent book Interviews with Beekeepers. He asks American bee farmers about this and they confirm it was common until the US-Canadian border was closed to bee traffic due to varroa around 1992. (The Canadian authorities thought this would prevent varroa reaching them over the land border...) I think it was just the Canadian beekeepers in the coldest, central plains who did this but it was common. After this they had to figure out how to overwinter bees successfully. My point is - it's not the hive type that determines whether the bees are harvested destructively, it's the beekeeper.

 

[pargyle]

I'm guessing Pargyle is descended from the second son!

I wish ... My ancestors have always been the youngest sons.. ... there are a long list of ancestors with rich elder siblings ... me ? .. I'm descended from a grandfather who was a miner and a former council midden emptier !! I'm the first oldest son in generations ... not a lot to inherit though !!

 

[understanding_bees]

Here's some of the Harpury Bee Bole

These photos are interesting and fascinating, and certainly seem to indicate the value which was accorded to the bees.
But there is another aspect that fascinates me - namely the physical shelter from the weather that these structures gave to the hives and their bees. Is there a lesson here for us to indicate that we should give greater shelter to our hives today?

 

[Erichalfbee]

But there is another aspect that fascinates me - namely the physical shelter from the weather that these structures gave to the hives and their bees. Is there a lesson here for us to indicate that we should give greater shelter to our hives today?

I don’t think we need to.
We don’t keep them in straw houses any more.
My poly and wood hives are pretty impervious to anything the weather throws at them.
Some people do put their hives in sheds though.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I don’t think we need to.
We don’t keep them in straw houses any more.

- on the subject of bee sheds, you will often find that in tropical Africa they will build shelters for their hives (just simple open sided affairs) as when it rains, it really rains and although the more modern hives have better roofs, it pays to be careful with the home made jobbies, the roofs also provide some shade from the sun, but last time I was out in Tanzania we discussed 'Bee cages' in great detail - the Beekeeping institute in Tabora has them. Not only do they provide shelter from the elements, they are literally cages and protect the hives from robbers (both the two legged kind and the cuddly little honey badger )

 

[Brian Bush]

We have the well documented Bee Boles at Chilton House not far from my village in Bucks. Here the Boles are unusual. They are set in the walls of the old walled garden and unusually they are on 3 sides of the garden. Chilton village has been a regular caller to out swarm hotline. There is a feral nest in the fabric of the Church Tower and another in the roof of the Pavilion at Chilton House. I have been asked to remove nests but have declined as they do little harm and removal would involve damaging the fabric of the buildings.

 

[Barbarian]

Quite often the boles have a southerly aspect. It is possible that they were used as a wintering position.
The hives were an asset and I have seen them mentioned in wills and in lists of a deceased person's property.. Some boles have evidence of metal bars across the face to deter theft.

In the original post, the first bole is made of more modern bricks. The second and third boles seem to be made of rougher (older ?) bricks.

There is a national register of bee boles.

 

[rolande]

Here's some of the Harpury Bee Bole

Good to see they're still at Hartpury. The last time I spoke to Tony Boonham, back in the nineties, he was very keen on having them moved to Blaisdon.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Good to see they're still at Hartpury. The last time I spoke to Tony Boonham, back in the nineties, he was very keen on having them moved to Blaisdon.

They're at the church now - not the college

 

[rolande]

They're at the church now - not the college

That's interesting. Tony was keen to move them to Blaisdon when the bee department was moved.

 

[rolande]

Edit: duplicate post removed

 

[Michael Palmer]

Searching for bee boles whenever I’m in your corner of the world. I’ve seen them in Lincs...Belton House? Also three locations in Ireland. Great fun.

 

[peterbees]

See IBRA Bee Boles Register The IBRA Bee Boles Register at The IBRA Bee Boles Register
Dr. Eva Crane and Penelope Walker visited Conwy Beekeepers in 1993, and we spent a weekend visiting bee boles sites in North Wales. Several newly identified sites were added to the register.