Newhouse Farm

[heldengebroed]

I´m thinking of going to keep some bees . i like the idea of a traditional skip but don´t like the idea of killing the bees when harvesting the honey
do you think it is possible to make a traditional skip but formed out 2 parts a bottom part with a cieling that has holes like the queen excluder
and a top part purely for honey
the 2 sit on each other like with an overlapping border
Or am i going to far?

Greetings

Johan

[monkeybum]

I know there is a man near(ish) to us in Cirencester who makes traditional straw skeps. He makes them with a smaller flatter compartment in the top where they tend to build their combs and he can harvest without annoying the bees too much. Hope that helps....they do exist!

[GavinWheeler]

a) skep, not skip, IIRC, as the second poster spells it
b) if it is in two parts, it ain't a 'traditional' skep anyway.

Unless it is the straw construction itself that attracts you, why not look at other beehive designs such as the Warre hive or the top bar hive, both easy to make yourself and both closer to the natural bee colony than a framed hive.

Otherwise bees will live in almost anything warm and dry from what I've read, so if you're really keen on this idea go ahead and try it - in the top bar hives (and other hives without a 'queen excluder') the brood ball appears to be naturally near the entrance so it might work. But you wouldn't be able to inspect the bees for disease, as you can in a top bar or framed hive, which would seem to be the big drawback to me.

Try Biobees or The natural beekeeping forum for more ideas.
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