Set of 5 Traditional Straw skep beehives

01 · WHAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE

And why they are no longer hives

They are woven straw baskets, the way bees were kept for centuries before the movable frame. And that is exactly why they are no longer used: there are no frames inside, so they cannot be opened or inspected.

Beekeeping rules require hives with movable frames, precisely so brood can be checked and treatments applied. A straw skep does not meet that, so it is not a production hive: it is decoration and, at most, a working basket.

02 · FOR CATCHING A SWARM

The use that remains

A straw basket is still excellent for collecting a swarm: place it under the cluster, shake the branch and the bees drop in. Straw is light, it breathes and it does not stress them while they gather.

But it is transport, not a destination: the swarm is then moved into a framed hive. Letting it raise brood in the basket is going back to the problem of not being able to look inside.

03 · THE FIVE SIZES

A step apart each

The set runs from smallest to largest, and that variety is exactly the point when decorating:

The near two-centimetre wall is what gives them their solid presence: these are not thin wicker baskets — they have weight and they stand on their own.

04 · WHERE TO PUT THEM

And what does not suit them

Outdoors they look right in a garden, a porch or a shop window. What ruins them is sustained damp: straw does not rot in an afternoon of rain, but it does sitting for months on wet ground.

If they go outside, put them on a board or a stone to lift them off the soil — exactly as was done when they were real hives.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Five hand-woven baskets: