Record numberAM-223Date qualifiern.d.Date range1st January 1000NotesThere are three basic styles of traditional beehive; mud hives, clay/tile hives, skeps and bee gums.
In northern and western Europe, baskets made of coils of grass or straw, called skeps, were used. In its simplest form, there is a single entrance at the bottom of the skep. Again, there is no internal structure provided for the bees, and the colony must produce its own honeycomb. Skeps have two disadvantages: beekeepers can not inspect the interior for diseases and pests, and honey removal often results in the destruction of the entire hive. Beekeepers either drove the bees out of the skep, or killed them. Skeps were then squeezed in a vise to extract the honey.
Later designs included a smaller woven basket on top with a small hole to the main skep. This acted as a crude super, allowing the harvesting of some honey with less destruction of brood and bees. In Scots, such an extension-piece placed below a straw bee-hive to give extra room for breeding, was called a nadder. Skeps and other fixed-frame hives are no longer in wide use (and are illegal in many countries) because the bees and the comb cannot be inspected for disease or parasites without destruction of the honeycomb and usually the colony.
[Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_(beekeeping) 5/06/2009]CategoryMuseum ObjectsFormatObjectsTaxonomyArchives | Museum ArtefactsExhibitionMuseum ArtefactsArchive TypeUniversity ArchiveContributorArchives
