Skep-making

[melias]

Has anyone found a good book or video on skep-making? I bought the book by Frank Alston (Skeps - Their history, making and use), but it only has 4 or 5 pages on making skeps.

 

[Hivemaker.]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=13919

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=13917

 

[MJBee]

http://www.martinatnewton.com/page2.htm

Here too

 

[jakethedog]

MJBee, fantastic link. thanks for putting that one up.

 

[Flatters]

I took the opportunity to go on one of Martin's courses. Fantastic and well worth doing. If you can get a group who want to do a course I would recommend it. And I've used my skep for collecting a swarm.

 

[Poly Hive]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qECcCRdUc[/ame]

May be of interest.

PH

 

[tonybloke]

good find PH. a skep with a super.

 

[Storm™]

I've seen the vids that hivemaker posted. Ive seen a few before. The ones hivemaker put up show the twist method of making them. But the chap just clasped a handful of reeds and twisted and then tied it in. But looking at this some time ago I found that here they used a (I think it was) shin bone. So whatever passed through it was used and twisted. Anything over was not used. So that the edge of the skep remained uniform thickness. The ones in these vids seem to be a wattle and dawb affair lol.

 

[Poly Hive]

Two very different techniques.

One was like making straw rope, and when that was invented goodness knows, and the other was (I believe) medieval.

PH