Subject: Image of Beehive in art

From: [email-masked] (Leslie_Bildner)
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 1994 07:41:25 GMT

Hi there:

I stumbled across this newsgroup and couldn't resist posting a question 
that I have had for a while.

I have long wondered about the dome shaped 'bee-hive' that is 
traditionally shown in emblems, cartoons, etc. It certainly doesn't look 
like any natural bee-hive that I've ever seen. Is this a stylized 
representation of some sort of artificial hive? Some versions that I've 
seen appear to be woven, like a wicker basket.

Thanks,
<<< Les <<<

---

From: [email-masked] (Malcolm Roe)
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 1994 12:39:59 GMT

>seen appear to be woven, like a wicker basket.

You're almost right, Les.  They were made of straw and called skeps.
To protect them from the rain they were often placed under some sort of
cover.  Sometimes recesses in walls called bee boles were used.

I don't know exactly how widespread the use of skeps was.  They were
certainly used by the British and in other parts of the world where
British influence prevailed.  They slowly went out of use after the
invention of removable frame hives in the middle of the 19th century.

What the beekeeper did was to catch swarms in the spring and encourage
them to take up residence in the skeps.  At the end of the summer a few
were put to one side (to provide the swarms for next year) and the rest
of the hives were killed.  Often this was done by placing them over a
fire onto which sulpher had been placed.  Once the bees were dead the
honey comb was cut out and the skeps put to one side until the next
spring.

I believe methods rather like this are still used in some less developed
parts of the world such as Africa (using log hives) but throughout most
of the world removable fame hives have become almost universal.  They
have many advantages although I don't have time to discuss that here.
Indeed, in some countries it is illegal to keep bees in anything but a
removable frame hive.  This is because it is otherwise impossible to
inspect for disease.

-- 
Malcolm Roe                            Phone  :  +44 442 230000 ext 5104
Crosfield Electronics Ltd              Fax    :  +44 442 232301
Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 7RH, UK    E-mail :  [email-masked] 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

From: [email-masked] (Peter Kerr)
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 1994 17:06:29 +1200

> seen appear to be woven, like a wicker basket.

That would be the old European *skep*, yes woven usually from cereal
straw. The straw was forced through a ring, bound in a sort of loose rope,
then sewn in a roughly curved spiral shape. It made a nice warm shelter
for the small colonies of English and North European bees.

No frames. Very difficult to get honey out without also getting lots of
brood, or destroying the whole hive. Sometimes sticks would be poked thru
near the top to simplify cutting out of combs.

They are illegal now in many places that require moveable frames for
disease control.

-- 
Peter Kerr                               neo-Luddite 
School of Music                          bodger
University of Auckland                   chandler