Notes from Greece

John Phipps

Top: Sylvia from Austria making the skep

Not far from my mountain village there is a permaculture settlement where people from several countries spend time together - maybe just a few weeks, months, or even years. The people currently staying there visited my apiary to see examples of a Warré hive, top bar hive, log hive, catenary hive, modified top-bar Langstroth, Layens and Greek skeps and a Portuguese Cork hive. If any of them wished to make a wooden hive, they could have my workshop and tools at their disposal. After a few days a group of them came by - they had made their minds up - they wished to make a skep. Fortunately, I have plenty of rye straw in store (purchased from Simona Vatinaite in Lithuania) and the group set to work for the morning removing the outer coverings of the stalks and cutting off the seed heads which they were able to take away for their chickens. Ensuring that they had plenty of material to complete a skep - and a copy of the BIBBA publication “Make Your Own Skep” by Revd Nobbs, they departed saying that they would complete the work at their camp. A few days later, they returned, full of delight, with their first ever skep. Sylvia, from Austria, I understand, constructed most of the skep and the entrance nearer the bottom included a kind of porch. It is currently awaiting a swarm - not far from an apiary of some forty colonies. I hope they are successful managing to attract a swarm!

Pauli, from Holland, Sylvia from Austria and Jose from France, with the completed skep.

Sadly, one of my colonies of bees, the one in the “Ukrainian Gable Hive” which is just outside my office window, came to an end in the middle of March, leaving behind a clean set of combs as yet untouched by wax moth. Within four days of cleaning the floor, a huge swarm clustered on the hive and within fifteen minutes they were safely inside. I expected the swarm as there had been scouts around for a couple of days with, interestingly, some staying overnight in their prospective home. This site is always the first one chosen in my garden. Whilst other bait hives are placed in the way which is meant to attract the bees, the ‘Ukrainian Hive’ faces north and with an entrance nearly one metre above the ground.

Swarms are always attracted to bait hives in this part of my garden!