The Story

What's the buzz on a Bee Skep?

A bee skep is one of the earliest forms of a man made housing for a bee hive.  By today's definition, it is an artfully woven straw domed basket, which provides a clean and dry place for a bee colony to build a comb.  Ask someone to draw you a behive and most likely, the form of a skep is what they will return with.  The skep's shape and it's use are well engrained in our society, inspiring such other things as the bee hive hair do!

Beekeepers have been using skeps, in one form or another, for about 2,000 years.  The earliest forms were hollowed out logs, but somewhere around 800AD, European beekeepers moved away from using logs and began using these woven straw domes. 

In order to keep the straw skeps dry and protected, beekeepers would build wood structures, such as ours here, in which the skeps were placed. so to shelter them from the elements.

As lovers of nature and gardening, we are obviously concerned about the on-going bee population stresses.  We are also lovers of history and tradition, so we thought a re-introduction to the bee skep might be an interesting point of garden interest.  If you choose to introduce a queen and workers you can provided a home to a new colony of pollinators while preserving a segment of bee keeping history.  If you choose not to colonize your skep, it makes an wonderful converstation piece for the garden just as it is.  

The Description

Bee Skep Shelter

Our bee skep shelter is finely hand crafted from old reclaimed barn wood.  It is hand nailed with iron cut nails for a very strong and authentic construction. 

The roof of the shelter is shingled with hand split cedar shakes and a rusted patina iron ridge cap, finishes the top.  

Like all Teracottage products, nothing is mass produced and everything is built to last a lifetime.  This product was designed and built in our New Jersey atelier.

Woven Skep

The skep itself is a hand woven with natural straw or vines. 

Dimensions:

Bee Skip Shelter   Height: 4 Feet

                                  Width: 3 Feet

                                  Length:  2 Feet 5 Inches

Woven Straw Bee Skip  Height: 16 Inches

                                              Width at Base: 13 Inches

For Holiday Decoration...

Fall

Minus the woven skep, this quaint structure makes a wonderful seasonal vignette for the garden.  In our photos, you will see how we created a decorative fall season scene with our skep shelter making a wonderful stage on which to display our pumpkin. 

Winter

For the Christmas holiday season,  we will be decorating the skep shelter with lights and placing a small lit tree inside.  I'll top it off with a lighted star on the roof.  

Shipping

The piece comes fully assembled.  Simply remove it from the shipping crate and place where you desire.  

Ordering

To order please contact us at info@teracottage.com or call us at (609) 538-0160.  You can also use the "Contact Us" form on this website.  

Pricing:

Bee Skep Shelter:  $398.00

Woven Straw Skep:  $54.00