Editing Beehive (section)

== Traditional hives ==

[[File:Beehouses.JPG|thumb|Hives from the collection of [[Radomysl Castle]],<ref>Bogomolets O. Radomysl Castle-Museum on the Royal Road Via Regia". – Kyiv, 2013 {{ISBN|978-617-7031-15-3}}</ref> [[Ukraine]], 19th century]]
[[File:Inzerki3.jpg|thumb|Racks for cylindrical clay hives at the Inzerki apiary, Morocco]]

Traditional beehives provided an enclosure for the bee colony. Because no internal structures were provided for the bees, they created their honeycomb within the hives.  The comb is often cross-attached and cannot be moved without destroying it. This is sometimes called a ''fixed-frame'' hive to differentiate it from the modern ''movable-frame'' hives. Harvest often destroyed the hives, though some adaptations were using top baskets which could be removed when the bees filled them with [[honey]]. These were gradually supplanted with box hives of varying dimensions, with or without frames, and finally replaced by newer modern equipment.

Honey from traditional hives was extracted by ''pressing''&nbsp;– crushing the wax honeycomb to squeeze out the contents. Due to this harvesting, traditional beehives provided more [[beeswax]], but far less honey than a modern hive.

Four styles of traditional beehives are mud hives, clay/tile hives, skeps, and bee gums.

=== Mud hives ===

Mud hives are still used in [[Egypt]] and [[Siberia]]. These are long cylinders made from a mixture of unbaked mud, straw, and dung.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tophoney.co.uk/product/buckwheat-blossom-bashkir-honey-organic-product-ural-mountains-235-gram-tophoney/|title=Buckwheat honey from mud hoves|access-date=2018-05-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511221716/http://tophoney.co.uk/product/buckwheat-blossom-bashkir-honey-organic-product-ural-mountains-235-gram-tophoney/|archive-date=2018-05-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Clay hives ===


[[File:Beekeeping in Malta.JPG|thumb|Bees in a baked clay jar in Malta]]
[[Clay]] tiles were the customary homes of kept bees in the eastern end of the [[Mediterranean]]. Long cylinders of baked clay were used in ancient [[Egypt]], the [[Middle East]], and to some extent in [[Greece]], [[Italy]], and [[Malta]]. They sometimes were used singly, but more often stacked in rows to provide some shade, at least for those not on top. Keepers would smoke one end to drive the bees to the other end while they harvested honey.

=== Skeps ===
[[File:Making-skep-beehive.jpg|thumb|left|Traditional manufacture of ''skeps'' from [[straw]] in England]]
[[File:DalgarvenBeeSkep.jpg|thumb|upright|A bee skep at [[Dalgarven Mill]]. The base is part of an old [[cheese press]].]]

Skeps, baskets placed open-end-down, have been used to house bees for some 2000 years. Believed to have been first used in Ireland, they were initially made from [[wicker]] plastered with mud and dung but after the Middle Ages, almost all were made of straw. In northern and western [[Europe]], skeps were made of coils of [[Poaceae|grass]] or straw. 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 honeycomb, which is attached to the inside of the skep. The size of early modern skeps was about two pecks to a bushel (18 to 36 liters).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wildman |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CCZAAAAAcAAJ |title=A Treatise on the Management of Bees |date=1768 |publisher=author, and sold |language=en}}</ref>

Skeps have two disadvantages: [[Beekeeper|beekeepers]] cannot inspect the comb for diseases and pests, and honey removal is difficult and often results in the destruction of the entire colony. To get the honey beekeepers either drove the bees out of the skep or, by using a bottom extension called an eke or a top extension called a cap, sought to create a comb with only honey in it. Quite often the bees were killed, sometimes using lighted [[sulfur]], to allow the honeycomb to be removed. Skeps could also be squeezed in a vise to extract the honey.

As of 1998, most US states prohibited the use of skeps, or any other hive that cannot be inspected for disease and parasites.<ref name="SammataroAvitabile1998">{{cite book|author1=Diana Sammataro|author2=Alphonse Avitabile|title=The beekeeper's handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLLB2fh55aQC&pg=PA186|access-date=17 August 2011|date=15 June 1998|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8014-8503-9|page=186}}</ref>

Later skep designs included a smaller woven basket (cap) on top over a small hole in the main skep.  This cap acted as a crude super, allowing some honey to be extracted with less destruction of brood and bees. In England, such an extension piece consisting of a ring of about 4 or 5 coils of straw placed below a straw beehive to give extra room for brood rearing was called an ''eke'', ''imp,'' or ''[[nadir]]''. An eke was used to give just a bit of extra room, or to "eke" some more space, a nadir is a larger extension used when a full story was needed beneath.<ref>The apiary by Alfred Neighbour - page 186 - Fittings and Apparatus, Ekes and Nadirs.</ref>

The term is derived from [[Old Norse]] ''skeppa'', "basket".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqRfDwAAQBAJ&q=++skep&pg=PT6727|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Anne H. Soukhanov,: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|first=anne H.|last=Soukhanov|date=15 June 2015|publisher=Bukupedia|via=Google Books}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A person who made such woven beehives was called a "skepper", a surname that still exists in Western countries. In England the thickness of the coil of straw was controlled using a ring of leather or a piece of cow's horn called a "girth" and the coils of straw could be sewn together using strips of briar. Likenesses of skeps can be found in paintings, carvings, and old manuscripts. The skep is often used on signs as an indication of industry ("the busy bee").

In the late 18th century, more complex skeps appeared with wooden tops with holes in them over which glass jars were placed. The comb would then be built into the glass jars, making the designs commercially attractive.

=== Bee gums ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Tupelo]] -->
[[File:Barć muzeum białowieża p.jpg|thumb|right|upright|"Barć" in a museum in [[Białowieża]]]]

In the eastern United States, especially in the Southeast, sections of hollow trees were used until the 20th century.  These were called "gums" because they often were from black gum (''[[Nyssa sylvatica]]'') trees.<ref>{{cite book|author=Crane, Ethel Eva|title=The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVh3AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA305|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page=305|isbn=9781136746697}}</ref>

Sections of the hollow trees were set upright in "bee yards" or apiaries. Sometimes sticks or crossed sticks were placed under a board cover to give an attachment for the honeycomb. As with skeps, the harvest of honey from these destroyed the colony. Often the harvester would kill the bees before even opening their nest. This was done by inserting a metal container of burning sulfur into the gum.<ref name="Gum">{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |date=2014-09-18 |title=HIVE: What is a "Bee Gum" Hive? |url=https://grossmannsbees.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/hive-what-is-a-bee-gum-hive/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Grossmann's Hives |language=en}}</ref> 

Natural tree hollows and artificially hollowed tree trunks were widely used in the past by beekeepers in Central Europe. For example, in Poland, such a beehive was called a ''barć'' and was protected in various ways from unfavorable weather conditions (rain, frost) and predators ([[woodpecker]]s, [[bear]]s, pine martens, forest dormice). Harvest of honey from these did not destroy the colony, as only a protective piece of wood was removed from the opening and [[smoke]] was used to pacify the bees for a short time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ślady dawnego bartnictwa puszczańskiego na terenie Białowieskiego Parku Narodowego|last=Karpiński|first=Jan Jerzy|publisher=Instytut Badawczy Leśnictwa|year=1948|url=http://www.encyklopedia.puszcza-bialowieska.eu/ksiazki/bartnictwo.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Gum"/> Spain still uses cork bark cylinder with cork top hives, similar to a gum or barc, {{em|aka}} [https://museodeolivenza.com/colmena-de-corcho-piezadelmes-mayo2005 colmenas de corcho.]

Part of the reason why bee gums are still used is that this allows the producers of the honey to distinguish themselves from other honey producers and to ask for a higher price for the honey. An example where bee gums are still used is Mont-Lozère, France, although in Europe they are referred to as log hives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lozere.fr/la-filiere-apicole-en-lozere.html|title=La filière apicole en Lozère|work=lozere.fr|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504105436/http://lozere.fr/la-filiere-apicole-en-lozere.html|archive-date=2014-05-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lozere.fr/actualites/1338984971-les-ruches-troncs-et-les-abeilles-noires-du-mont-lozere-sur-tf1.html|title=''Les Ruches troncs et les abeilles noires'' du Mont-Lozère sur TF1|work=lozere.fr|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504105810/http://lozere.fr/actualites/1338984971-les-ruches-troncs-et-les-abeilles-noires-du-mont-lozere-sur-tf1.html|archive-date=2014-05-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nvbinfocentrum.nl/uploads/files/holland_bee.pdf|title=La fôret des abeilles by Yves Elie|website=nvbinfocentrum.nl|access-date=2 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035731/http://www.nvbinfocentrum.nl/uploads/files/holland_bee.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>[http://www.masters-biologie-ecologie.com/ARTIO/IMG/pdf/Lehebel-Peron.Ameline.stage.M2IEGB-2009.pdf Paper on use of bee gums in France] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504121405/http://www.masters-biologie-ecologie.com/ARTIO/IMG/pdf/Lehebel-Peron.Ameline.stage.M2IEGB-2009.pdf |date=2014-05-04 }}</ref> The length of these log hives used is shorter than bee gums; they are hollowed out artificially and cut to a specific size.