Skep making and skep beekeeping

A talk by Dave Chubb of South Cerney, Gloucestershire

Date: Thursday 24 April 2003

Venue: Church Rooms, Stow on the Wold

Notes by: Jeremy Voaden

A brief chronology

Skeps were traditionally made from what you could go out, find and collect within a reasonable walking distance from your home. This might be straw, reed or grasses bound together by hazel, willow or bramble.

Fire has destroyed many of the old records concerning the history of skeps. The earliest records are written in Latin. Only people who could read them wrote them! It is likely that, in Britain, skep beekeeping was the first way that people tried to control bees as opposed to harvesting from wild colonies. The disadvantage at the time was that people had to pay taxes (in the form of honey) on the basis of the number of skeps they had.

Early skeps have been found with glass inserts as people have always been fascinated by what happens inside the bee colony.

Bee boles were built from about 1700 and skeps were placed in the boles so they would last longer. People without access to boles would place their skeps on straw mats for insulation. Some placed them 2-3 feet from the floor on stones and stooks to prevent vermin from gaining entry.

Later, skeps were moved into Bee Houses (although by this time the transition to bar hives had begun). The 1850s saw huge changes in practice with the work of Langstroth, the concept of the “bee space” and the making of foundation and extractors.

In 1896 the prominent beekeepers of the day got together to standardise frame size and agreed on the use of the National-sized frame. However, a dissident group wanted a larger frame and endorsed the Commercial. Even in the nineteenth century, Queens were being imported so standard sizes (on the basis of the vigour of the old English Black Bee) soon became too small. Indeed, it is rumoured that the dimensions of a Langstroth are based on those of a champagne crate!

How did Dave get into skeps?

Dave became interested in making his own skeps when he wanted to buy one for his own use….and couldn’t find a skep maker. So he decided to make his own. He wanted to buy a book to teach himself but the only one he could find was in Dutch- “but it is a very good book!” A Dutch girl came to ride a pony in South Cerney and she translated it for him.

At the time, he was keeping bees, cattle, sheep and doing contracting work on his South Cerney farm. And they say diversify!

At a jumble sale in 1981, he met a man making Corn Dollies and asked where he got his straw from. This chap advised him on which sort of straw to use: “You want a younger corn with a bit of green in it”. For binding material, Dave approached a place making cane chairs and they gave him the address of an importer.

So, in 1982 he began making skeps for a living and currently makes about 230 per annum.

In terms of manufacture, Dave’s coils flow in a clockwise direction. Most go anticlockwise. If people want to super their skep, he puts a block in the top and puts holes all around it and then binds the block in to hold it together.

Dave uses a cow horn to enable the purchaser to give guidance on how thick they want their skep coils. The Tube used to hold the coil together can be made of all sorts – Dave uses a steel or plastic milking machine liner to guide the diameter.

If the straw is cut a little bit early and is therefore a little bit green, it has greater flexibility and is therefore more durable. On a thatched roof, this gives another 20 years of life. The straw is cut in July but he leaves it until after Christmas before using it. He uses “sheaths”, or when they have been through the rolling drum, “boltings”

The tools of the trade are simple:

v Scissors

v Milking machine liner tube

v Tape measure

v A number of metal pipes set into handles to control and hold together the structure.

From top to bottom, the skep is one continuous feed of materials. You can either go with or against the grain.The straw is added into the pieces already held within the tube and twisted. Dave does an hour in the morning then puts it down, an hour before tea then works on skeps indoors after tea until about 10pm. A 2ft skep takes about 5 hours and a big 4ft skep about 40 hours to make. There is no rush. Sit then and work slowly and methodically.

He still keeps 80 hives of bees.

The largest skep he has ever made was a 6ft x 6ft with a 5 inch entrance. This was for big 5 inch wooden bees in a display for the Chelsea flower show. The binding of this giant was challenging and in the end, having used traditional binding, he wired it.

Standard sizes he makes are

v 6” Mini Skep

v 14” x 9” Flat Top Skep (the best to collect swarms in)

v 14” Domed Top

v 14” x 14” Skep

v 18” x 18” Skep

v 24 x 24” Skep

There are slight differences in the detail too.

On a Dutch Skep, the entrance is half way down the face.

On a German Skep, the entrance is near the top.

The traditional English Skep has an entrance at the bottom.

Dave recently had a commission from Scotland for a skep with lots of entrances!

If you want to work skeps, it is essential for the bee keeper to be present for much of the time. Traditional methods of swarm control are not feasible and so the beekeeper needs to be aware when a swarm goes off to ensure collection.

Recommended reading

Pepys into some early hives

David A. Smith Central Association of Beekeepers, July 1980

Straw and Straw Craftsmen

Arthur Staniforth Shire Album No.76, 1981

ISBN 0 85263 5753

Bee Boles and Bee Houses

A.M. Forster Shire Album No. 204, 1988

ISBN 0 85263 903 1

Korfvlechten

Toon Brekelmans Canteclear bu.de Bilt, 1979

ISBN 90 213 1361 8