First of all, the bee skep is decorative only. They're not legal anywhere in the US or Canada, where the law is bees can be kept only in a hive with movable frames.

Second, bumblebees nest in the ground, not in a skep or a beehive.

Enjoy it as decoration. Stick it in the garden if you must, but don't encourage bees to nest in it.

If you want to keep bees, however, use a standard movable frame beehive, have it inspected, and be a responsible beekeeper.

Why do I say responsible? Because a beeskep with bees living in it would breed disease and parasites and put a real burden on the neighboring apiaries. You don't want to be a major source of infestation for your county.

With all the mites going around, I doubt a bee colony would inhabit a skep since so many cavities are now vacant in the trees. And a skep placed near the ground would almost certainly not house anything more than a mouse. Furthermore, as pointed out above, it is illegal to have bees in a skep.

However, one placed a little above the ground could house some wasps, if you are a mind to house them. I use last year's gourds that the birds are done with for wasp nests. If the bottom is taken out, and the top is hung in a tree, almost all will have a wasp nest by mid-summer. Wasps are carnivorous and eat many kinds of flies and mosquitos, so if you can get a wasp to live in there, it is a good thing. Otherwise, enjoy it as a garden ornament and put some mesh across the entrance to prevent its use as a mouse house.

All of the above is good advise, I want to know where you or the party that gave it to you got the skept. I talk to different orgainizations on beekeeping and am having a hard time finding a real skept. Its great for show and tell, I have surched the net with no luck.
Thanks Steve

Hi Steve, I'm not a beekeeper, just searching for answers to a question I have - but the problem may be the way you're spelling it. A Google search on "Bee Skep" without the "t" yielded some results.

Also I found several on Ebay and at Amazon.com. I'm sorry to say that all the sellers are advertising this as a responsible way to encourage bees.

I contacted the guy selling them on ebay. he wouldn't change his claim.

The housedad at my son's group home grappled with a similar issue. For several years they have been building these gorgeous birdhouses using reclaimed materials. They make quite a good living for themselves. Then the housedad found out that a birdhouse with a perch is irresponsible because only predators use the perch. So now he has a different line of perchless houses for use outside, and the customers are told that the houses with the perches are for indoor decorative use. Most of their regular customers are keeping the houses indoors anyway. Would it hurt people to sell a skep with no door? I don't think so.

My skep has no door. I bought it at the auction of a commercial bee keeper who was retiring and going out of business. It is in my cottage garden entirely for looks.

MeMo

Use it as a swarm trap with lemon grass oil