Skeps are old-fashioned beehives made from straw.
In Beds BKA we have several skep makers.
There is an article on skep making together with several photos on
Martin Buckle's web page: www.martinatnewton.com
From left to right:
A 17C replica made for living history use. this one is full of old comb.
a copy of a 19C skep,
Brace comb built in a 17C style skep by a swarm,
an eke,
three 19C copies with large holes in the tops for storifying,
an unfinished skep, with its wreath of straw and the needle in position,
a Thomas Wildman 1770 skep made to the description in his book,
a cat basket,
a small skep with upper entrance.
The tools of the trade
A selection showing the variety of materials for the two basic tools, the needle and the gauge.
Clockwise from 1 o'clock:
1 Elder wood needle
2 Plastic bottle top gauge
3 Swan bone needle with wood handle
4 Cow horn gauge
5 Copper pipe needle
6 Wooden gauge
7 Swan wing bone needle
8 Another plastic bottle top gauge
9 Turkey leg bone needle
10 Bigger plastic bottle top
11. Small needle of Aluminium tube
12 Cow horn gauge
The needle is used to pierce a hole so that the binder can easily be threaded through the wreaths of straw. If you use cane binder you only need a thin needle such as the one at 11 oclock, but using thicker bramble binder the copper tube needle works best, although the traditional needle is a bone.
The Gauge is used to keep the wreath of straw to a constant thickness. It slides along the straw as it is used up and more straw is stuffed into the wide end every time it gets a bit loose. The traditional gauge is a slice of cow horn, but plastic bottle tops work excellently and come in various sizes with a convenient funnel shape.