A bee skep, you say? Yes. A bee skep. Simply put, a bee skep is a straw hive, domed in shape, for bees. Using a skep is an old-fashioned method of keeping bees, one not commonly practiced today. But decorative bee skeps appear to be pretty popular right now, based on how many DIY instructions I found for them on Pinterest. So, when searching for a spring craft for my April Maker Magic take-home program, I decided to go with crafting a decorative bee skep. And, I’m glad I did.
This is a fairly easy craft to do, it didn’t take a lot of time to make, and in the end, I have a really cute piece that I can decorate with all summer long. I’d like to share with you now the instructions for making your own bee skep.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
About 34 feet of 3/8 thick rope – I purchased mine online from SGT. KNOTS Supply Co. To have enough rope to supply all my Maker Magic crafters I had to buy a lot of rope, 2400 feet worth. This is what that looks like, all 6 spools.
24 inches of 1 ½ inch wide wired ribbon – I found this adorable bumble bee on black and white gingham ribbon at an Etsy shop called TCT crafts.
Bumble bee accent – I purchased these bee buttons online from Buttons Galore & More.
Black acrylic paint & small paint brush
Hot glue gun & glue sticks – I worked with a mini-glue gun and used about 14-1/2 sticks of glue.
Flower pot – Used as the unseen base, I bought the ones we used for just one dollar each at Dollar Tree. The pots are 6 ¼ inch tall.
Scissors – I’ll be honest, the rope is hard to cut, so you’ll need a strong, sturdy pair of scissors to cut it.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Before we get started, just a gentle reminder to be very careful using a glue gun as they can be hot, even with so-called “low heat” guns.
1. From the 34-foot length of rope, cut two smaller pieces before you begin gluing the largest piece to the pot. One should be 12 inches long, the other 7 inches long.
2. Flip the pot over; it will be used upside down as the base of the skep. Begin gluing the longest piece of rope to the bottom of the pot. As you glue, go slow and steady. Only glue a section of rope of about 2 to 3 inches at a time as hot glue cooIs quickly.
3. After you apply glue, cover that section with rope, and then hold the rope in place until the glue sets.
4. Glue the rope all the way around the bottom, keeping it as close as possible to the edge.
5. When you get back to the point where you began, lay the rope up over the first row, staying as close as possible, and continue on. There may be a little spot left uncovered, but it won’t really show much. And you can make that the backside of your skep anyway if it bothers you.
6. From this point on, keep gluing rope on, going slow and steady, all the way up the pot. Remember, apply just small sections of hot glue as you go.
7. This picture shows how I ended up holding the pot while the glue sets. I know it looks like I’m gluing from the top down, but I’m not. It’s just how I picked the pot up and held on. I probably can’t explain this well, just give it a try. It allowed me to hold firmly onto all that I had already glued down.
8. When you get to the top of the pot, it’s time to attach the 12-inch piece of rope as the handle. Hot glue it as I did here or in some similar fashion that works for you. (I did not remove the tape from the ends of the rope in this step as they won't show in the end. Keeping the tape on prevents the rope from unraveling.)
9. Now continue to glue the rope, but when the pot is all covered, you will begin the process of narrowing the rope in to create the rounded dome of the top. You won’t have a pot to attach to anymore, so apply the glue on the top of the previous row of rope, kind of at the back of the top, if that makes sense. Keep working in this manner, making the open area smaller and smaller as you work to the top.
10.Work up and around the attached loop and when done, cut the excess rope and stick the end into the hole under the loop; apply some glue to hold it in place if necessary. This is what my top looks like.
11. Remove the tape from each end of the small piece of rope that is left. Now glue the two ends together, forming a circle. Hold firmly till the glue sets.
12. Decide where you want the faux opening on your skep to be. Using a marker – or anything that will draw on the rope – trace a circle using the inside of the rope circle you just created as a template.
13. Paint the inside of the circle black. You will probably need to paint some outside of the line as well. You’ll want to make sure the entire area inside the rope circle is painted black. Hold the rope circle up against the painted circle to check, and then keep painting until the black circle is big enough and fills the entire rope circle.
14. When the black circle is big enough, let it dry. Then glue the rope circle on over the black circle. Hold in place till the glue sets.
15. I made the bow using the “bunny ears” method as if tying shoes. If you don’t remember how to tie using “bunny ears”, please Google it or look for a You Tube video demonstration; they’re out there.
16. First, tie the ribbon tightly around one side of the loop.
17. My first attempt at the bow, I left the skep sitting on the table and tied my “bunny ear” bow. Guess what? It was upside down, with the ends sticking up. If that works for you, great, your bow is done. But I wanted mine with loops up, ends down. So, I put the skep on my lap, with the bottom pointing towards my knees, and tied the bow again. And this time it was just right. 😊
18. Last step, decide where you want your bee to be and hot glue it on. Hold in place till the glue sets.
That’s it! You’re all done. I love my finished bee skep, and I hope you’ll consider making one. I can help…
SUPPLY GIVE-AWAY!
I have enough supplies left over from my Maker Magic kits, that I can provide three lucky readers with the basics. I have rope, ribbon, bees, pots, and glue sticks just waiting to be claimed. If you would like to give making a bee skep a try, email me at graib@cidlibray.org and I’ll put together a bag of supplies, with printed instructions, for you to pick-up from the library.
BTW, I found these instructions on a blog called Life Inside the Page. I tweaked them a bit as you’ll see, but they were very helpful to me as I worked. Here’s the link to the blog if you’d like to check it out yourself:
LET’S GO TIGERS!
As I start to write this post, it’s April 1, opening day for the Detroit Tigers baseball season. Supposedly, per my weather app, it was 50 degrees and sunny as the game began. And yet when Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run home run in the very first inning, it was snowing so hard he couldn’t see that he’d actually hit the ball out of the park, and he slid into second base thinking he’d gotten a double instead. Thankfully, it was indeed a home run, and they would go on to win the game 3-2, defeating the Cleveland Indians. Go Tigers! It’s good to have baseball back and exciting to have some actual fans in the ballpark. Summer must surely be right around the corner. 😊
Take care and stay safe.