> Certainly surprised me in how well the swarm did.  Not so happy about it as
> a potential reservoir of mites, disease, etc. since it was virtually
> impossible to work or inspect.
 
Well, I know a beekeeper on Vancouver Island who is an old-time German
skep beekeeper.  he worked as a boy on a skep bee farm with 1000 hives in
Germany.
 
He now still has a few skeps and I'm frankly impressed.  He has 'supers'
on his skeps.  They are rings that sit under the main skep and raise it
up.  To remove a 'super', he uses piano wire to cut at the joint.
 
I mean to ask him if I can put the pictures I took of him and his skeps
onto the net.  If he says 'yes' then I will.  They will then show up at my
'What's New' page someday.
 
FWIW, the way those old 'cowshit' beekeepers operate is nothing short of
amazing and it is sad to see the technology in disuse.  (The cowshit
derrrogatory term used by some modern German beekeepers to describe the
old way is due to the practice of coating the skeps -- some of them a
hundred years old and in perfect shape -- with cow droppings as a paint on
the outside.
 
I have very seriously considered using plastic pails for skeps and using
them for pollination.  They are light and easily transportable and easy to
manage when you know how.  Cheap too.
 
More later.  Maybe.
 
Allen