>Does anyone on this list know the history of who ,when,where etc. it >was >first discovered that bees could be enticed to build their hives in >boxes? >Are these called skeps? My gr. gr. grandfather was evidently doing >this in >>upstate NY in the early 1800s. I was curious as to how early they >began to do >this. Susan Hi susan, Pottery vessels were used to keep bees 5000 B.C. (from "The hive and the honey bee" edited by Dadant and Son's, USA. chapter 1) Phil