'YES!' says Pandora, who has already tried to christen it thus.'NO!' says I, who has already threatened to get out the kitten mittens and attach them to aforesaid cat if any more of this scratching pod identity crisis malarkey goes on.
Or is it what the Man in the Iron Mask would have worn before the Iron Age?
Noooo! It's a skep. A bee skep. For catching bee swarms in. And before you think 'Oh, oh, have the Malarkey Manor bees done a bunk, they haven't. I can report that when I arrived home today there was much activity outside the hive, and the usual gathering of pollen etc etc. They are still in situ and not hanging around a local tree like a bunch of bee yobbos with no place to go.
But, in case they do decide to jump ship, and we see them a-jumping, and can follow them and keep up with them, we now have a receptacle for bringing them home. The top-bar hive is now complete, too, so if we should be lucky enough to get a different swarm (not now, of course, because a swarm in July isn't worth a fly - apparently) but next year, then we are prepared.
Skeps were the original beehive, you know - well, I suppose tree trunks were the original originals, but skeps are the original man made hive. Many societies still use them today, in fact, and on my interwebbly search for a skep whilst I was in bee panic mode on Sunday, I found a beekeeper who keeps his bees in nothing else. Of course, you need a whopping great skep to keep a full colony in, not a dinky wee one like this one, but on further research, I discovered that whopping skeps are suitable for use by 'experienced keepers only' which I am not, so I opted for the small option that was 'ideal for the beginner,' which I am.
Also, I thought the whopper looked a little too like an Ali Baba laundry basket and didn't want to run the risk of it becoming full of pants and socks before bees.
And who is this? This is my adorable grand-daughter, Kayleigh, aged almost four months.
What a star, eh?
Wow - I used a cardboard box when I collected a swarm, but I can see that a skep has advantages over that. Just caught up after a couple of weeks, glad to see the alternative plans are going well, the bees are buzzing and the chickens are revolting! Bet you can't wait till the end of term.
ReplyDeletePS Kayleigh is gorgeous. Who could look at that picture and not smile!
Exactly! I took a copy of it to work with me this week during the OFSTED inspection to put on my wall to keep me smiling and remind myself there are more important things in the world than having someone come and tell me I'm not doing my job properly!
ReplyDeleteLovely to hear from you ,Olly. Hope you and yours are well.
I'm not sure if, or when, the skep will come into play, but in the meantime, Pandora is having a ball playing hide-and-jump-out-at-Phoebe in it.