I worked on a beekeeping project in the Sudan in the mid 1980's and a
major thrust was to convert beekeepers from a destructive harvest of
primative log hives to a top-bar type hive. Wood was in short supply,
but we observed that the Sudanese stored drinking water in clay pots and
were quite good an pot making. For water storage the pots were great in
that they were porous and the evaporative cooling made for a cool drink.
We had some pot makers make a number of clay hive prototypes, but we
never got good acceptance by the bees. We ended up adapting a common
woven (reed) market basket that worked quite well as a top bar hive when
suspended between two trees.
Bill Lord
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WILLIAM G LORD
E-Mail : wglord@franklin
Internet: [log in to unmask]
Phone : 9194963344