For thousands of years, bees have managed without a dedicated home, known as a beehive. The forest was their home. Trees with cavities, resulting from decay, provided their nest. These nests were dry and safe from predators. However, the procurement of honey from such nests required courage and skill, since there were no bee suits for protection.

The people who robbed the honey were the early beekeepers, although I am sure they had little to do with keeping bees. This all changed when beekeepers realised they could substitute the bees’ dwelling by making what became known as a skep. These were made of wattles and plastered on the outside with cow dung and mud.

Imagine now, how we would be viewed by the food safety people if this were still the modus operandi. Anyway, these skeps evolved over time, from being made of wattles to that of straw construction. Bees regularly swarmed from them due to their small size. This did have an advantage in that these swarms acted as a replacement for those which were destroyed over the sulphur pit at the end of the season, in order to recover the honey.

Over time, a means of protecting skeps from the weather was developed. This protection took the form of wall construction, in which recess cavities were built and where the skeps could be placed. Rows of skeps could be kept in walls with multiple cavities. These cavities are known as bee boles and remnants of these may still be found in various parts of Ireland.

In various parts of the world, bees have been kept in baskets and earthen jars. The great leap forward into pro-active bee management took place when beehives were constructed. These were generally of greater capacity in the brood nest and provided the area above the nest with adequate space to fit boxes for collecting honey. These hives were generally of the WBC (William Broughton Carr) type.

Many older readers will remember these since they were used for section honey production. Later, this hive was followed by the CDB (Congested Districts Board) hive and, again, it was mainly used for section honey production.

Over time, the National, Commercial and Dadant hives were some of those that became more commonly used by beekeepers. The advantages of these hives were many, such as no overlapping parts, ease of working and greater capacity.

Beekeeping could now be streamlined and production greatly increased. It is interesting to note that when the CDB hives were the norm for honey production, the countryside abounded with flora, making large crops of honey possible.

Now that we have better hives, the availability of flora is in decline.

At this time of year, beekeepers will be busy preparing hives and honey collecting supers in readiness for the new season, which starts about the beginning of April. The first hive inspection will reveal how much of last autumn’s ivy honey still remains in the brood chamber.

We are now at the time of year when we assess our losses and make plans for replacement or expansion. Irrespective of the type of hive in use by the beekeeper, some will keep bees for fun and enjoyment while others will have a more serious agenda, such as pollination and or honey production using the most modern methods.