What does skep mean?
A skep is a beehive, particularly the traditional kind fashioned from bundled straw, woven material, or another basketry material. In British and Scots usage the word can also denote a basket or similar container, though this older sense is now largely confined to dialect speech, historical writing, and descriptions of traditional crafts. A skep differs from many modern hives because its shape may be part of its construction rather than merely a protective outer covering around movable frames. The word therefore carries associations with rural life, beekeeping traditions, and an older form of apiary practice. In modern writing it is often encountered when someone describes a heritage orchard, a historical farm, or the preservation of a traditional beehive. Although dictionaries outside Britain may record it, contemporary speakers in the United States are much more likely to use the general word hive.
nounA beehive, especially a traditional basket-shaped or straw hive. In older British usage, it can also mean a woven basket or similar container.
- A beehive, especially a traditional straw or basket-shaped hive.
- A basket or similar woven container; chiefly an archaic or dialectal sense.
"A century-old straw skep still stood at the edge of the orchard."
"The old straw skep stood beneath the apple tree."
"In Scots usage, a skep may also refer to a small basket carried by hand."
The standard plural is skeps.
"Several empty skeps were stacked beside the barn."
A skep can mean both a bee's home and, in older British usage, the woven basket from which that home takes its shape.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does skep come from?
The word entered Middle English from Old Norse skeppa, a term for a basket or similar container, and its English use developed in connection with basket-shaped beehives. It belongs to a Germanic word family associated with vessels and ships, also reflected in English words such as ship and skiff. In English, the specialized meaning for a straw or woven beehive became the dominant sense, while the older basket meaning survived in regional usage.
How skep is actually used
The word is chiefly British and Scots and is uncommon in modern American English. Its original beehive sense is still familiar, while the sense meaning a basket is archaic or dialectal.