Before I do something (else) truly stupid... bee skep?

I'm getting intrigued by the bee skep. I've done a LITTLE basket weaving (you can't find out why, now HIPPA is in effect... muah ha ha) and would like to coil a bee skep. I've googled it and the main thing I can't figure out is whether there is a floor in the thing, or is it open at the bottom?

Also, while I'm pretty much looking at this as a garden decoration, if bees should take up residence there it would be fine with me. If they did, I wouldn't plan to harvest the honey. What should I expect?

I guess if it's supposed to have a floor and I don't put one in it, there wouldn't be any danger of bees moving in.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Warnings? Thanks!

Maybe some of these links will help:

http://www.ncbka.org.uk/Skepmaking24403.htm
http://members.aol.com/ljludes/BeeSkep.html
http://davesgarden.com/terms/go/73/
http://www.dadant.com/journal/faq.html

I was surprised to find that it is illegal to keep bees in a skep because they can't inspect them without the moveable frame. Not sure if that would apply to a backyard hive though.

If you want to get creative with your fencing/walls, you could look into a bee bole:
http://www.dswa.org.uk/Publications/Leaflets/bee%20boles.htm

Wow! Thanks for the links -- I'm going to get on them right now. I did read somewhere that the inspection thing is for commercial beekeepers, and IF I made this and IF bees decided to move in, I probably wouldn't mess with the honey at all, much less do anything commercial with it. I'm thinking pine needles instead of straw, just because they are so very available around here. (This is the Texas Piney Woods region.)

I primarily want it for the cottagey kitsch, but if bees are abandoning commercial hives for whatever reason, and I can give some support to some wild ones, I guess I'll have done my bit on that front, too. Couldn't hurt. Except maybe a bee sting or two.

Well, apparently in Texas, if you keep even one hive for personal use, you have to be a certified beekeeper. I'm still looking into it, but seems odd to me. I probably need to call the state apiary inspector (I wonder if s/he is hired or elected) and just ask -- if wild bees take up residence in my skep, am I a beekeeper and subject to the rigamarole.

Hmph.

I would rephrase my question to something along the lines of "if wild bees take up residence in my straw garden ornament, am I a beekeeper and subject to the rigamarole." No point in tipping them off to the fact that you know you have a skep designed for bees. Could just be an upside down, homemade basket, right?
:D

What?!?!?! Treat the government the way the government treats me? Why, that would be just plain old mean!

I think I'll do it that way. ;}

So how's the bee skep project coming along?

Hey, g_m -- haven't done a thing yet. Still on a half-hearted search for straw.

BUT today is W.B. Yeats's birthday and a PERFECT day for thinking about --

I will arise and go now and go to Innisfree
and a small cabin build there of clay and wattles made
nine bean rows will I have there and a hive for the honey bee
and live alone in the bee-loud glade...

I love that poem. (And I'd love to live there!!!)

I'm packing my bag, just send me a map to that wonderful bee-loud glade.......

:)

I'll dmail you when I've found it.