Bee Boles

I've always been fascinated with bees and honey, so was absolutely thrilled to see this antiquated sweetening factory several years ago on a trip to England.  These are bee boles filled with straw structures called skeps circa 1820 to 1840.  Bees were important to gardens for several reasons:

• They provided a sweetener for ordinary people
• The bees provided pollination for the garden
• Beeswax was still an important payment of taxation