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;)

Starting a new thread here to chart my skep journey.

Booked to attend Chris Park's Skep Beekeeping course run through Bees for Development on 30th July: https://www.beesfordevelopment.org/bee-involved/courses/

I have already purchased a skep from a skep maker on etsy rather than these cheap rubbish ones you see online. It's a thing of beauty. It has bamboo skewers through it. I also hand-cloamed it in cow poo. Another member privately messaged me to say that I ought check with the farmer that the cows hadn't recently been wormed as that would affect the biome. I did and it's fine. I'm genuinely in awe of the cloam. I accidentally sprayed the skep with my hose when watering the garden (yes, in April) and the water just trickled off and didn't even get wet!

I constructed an eco box (a la Barefoot Beekeepr Phil Chandler) that I filled with detritus from the local forest floor. I understand that keeping the contents moist is a problem yet to be solved. I also understand from what I've listened to that some bees are pissed off about the contents and spend time removing every morsel so I hope they're not annoyed about that.

The skep and eco box is housed in a specially built wooden housing that has a slanted roof and polycarbonate shielding to keep rain off. It's placed in a field beside local woodland, faces a south-easterly direction and is well-sheltered from prevailing wind by hedging. The housing unit is raised probably 3 feet off the ground (again, based on the recommendations I read) and fully insulated with circa 100mm insulation on all sides (except the entrance obviously). It's painted and has bee stencils on the outside.

It's my first foray in to skeps and if nothing else, it's a thing of beauty that I like the look of. I'm not taking honey. There is a gap at the top of the skep for a 'skep super' to go on if I so wanted. At this stage I need to learn and understand more about that from Chris.

I have another hive that I will share more about later.

I'm also very likely to be purchasing a top bar hive in the next week or two for a more 'conventional' approach.

If you want to know more about skep beekeeping then please join me on Chris' course (hopefully he'll bring MEAD!!) I can't tell you anymore than I currently know. I read the book 'What Bees Want' and found it very interesting. That's what initially piqued my interest. I've also watched the YouTube videos about skep beekeeping so no need to share. I'm not going to debate this topic - this is simply a placeholder for talking about skeps. I'm fully aware I've a lot to learn on this process and I don't want a repeat of the other thread here. Thanks very much!

Emma

N.B. It's fine if you want to comment on this thread. Good faith input only, please.
 
I've shared it before and probably others have done so to, but here's a really nostalgic video of an old gentleman making a skep-basket. I think it was used more for holding a swarm before hiving, but it's very interesting how it was made. I've set it to start with a cat and some kittens to put everyone in a good mood and to change the coprophilitic tone. ;)



At least the tone wasn't coprophagic.
 
Don’t learn this one
I'll have to dig out the old 'Bingo sheet' we had to fill in whilst viewing videos seized at the airport or at the parcel post depot. I'm sure it will open your eyes.
The saddest thing was, as the years went by the list of 'prohibited acts' got smaller and smaller.
 
I said I'd update this thread after I'd been to the skep beekeeping course.

I attended the course yesterday with Chris Park and it was absolutely above and beyond what I'd hoped. He started with a presentation about skep beekeeping and it's fair to say he's probably one of the best UK experts on the subject matter. He's very well-versed in the history and application of skep beekeeping and provided a fascinating overview of the practice.

The next part of the course was viewing his apiary and learning the more practical aspects of skep keeping. His apiary is simply magical - as you'd expect - and included a little bee shed that had seven colonies underneath and a lovely relaxing space to take in the scent of the hives.

When I joined this site I mentioned that I was very interested in skep beekeeping and obviously that got a lot of attention. Having taken the course (ran through Bees for Development) I'm happy to say that I will indeed be venturing in to skep beekeeping next year. I have two top bar colonies now and an empty skep. I was reticent to add either of my two swarm collections to the skep until I had a better understanding of what I was doing and having done the course I can see some tweaks I'd like to make to the skep setup.

Now that I've done the course I feel that I'm more confident about the practice. I'm even excited to try and make one!

Highly recommended. Chris is an excellent teacher and his method of keeping is utterly fascinating.

Including some photos I took with permission.
 

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I said I'd update this thread after I'd been to the skep beekeeping course.

I attended the course yesterday with Chris Park and it was absolutely above and beyond what I'd hoped. He started with a presentation about skep beekeeping and it's fair to say he's probably one of the best UK experts on the subject matter. He's very well-versed in the history and application of skep beekeeping and provided a fascinating overview of the practice.

The next part of the course was viewing his apiary and learning the more practical aspects of skep keeping. His apiary is simply magical - as you'd expect - and included a little bee shed that had seven colonies underneath and a lovely relaxing space to take in the scent of the hives.

When I joined this site I mentioned that I was very interested in skep beekeeping and obviously that got a lot of attention. Having taken the course (ran through Bees for Development) I'm happy to say that I will indeed be venturing in to skep beekeeping next year. I have two top bar colonies now and an empty skep. I was reticent to add either of my two swarm collections to the skep until I had a better understanding of what I was doing and having done the course I can see some tweaks I'd like to make to the skep setup.

Now that I've done the course I feel that I'm more confident about the practice. I'm even excited to try and make one!

Highly recommended. Chris is an excellent teacher and his method of keeping is utterly fascinating.

Including some photos I took with permission.

Those images look beautiful and show Chris to be a very passionate beekeeper. It's obvious that the experience has buoyed you up to an increased chance of success with your skep; it will be great to see how you do.

Yesterday, I was in the "Honey Tent" of our local agricultural show, where a local skep-maker was displaying his wares and his techniques. His largest skep was aimed more at swarm-collection, I'm having one as a Christmas present.
 
Lovely stuff! I've found a wonderful skep maker on Etsy (I *will* give it a go myself before this year ends). It's so nice to find passionate individuals, isn't it?

Chris has a lovely way with his bees. Very happy to have found him via this forum!
 
I have one that I use for honey fairs. It’s a work of art. People always ask if I keep bees in it. Perhaps I’ll direct them here.
 
I expect this link has been posted before; but if anyone hasn't seen it it has to be the definitive skep beekeeping source. Its in Germany - someone may know more about the history
 

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