I am a clueless newbie, but the household here (SE Michigan) has been very interested in providing a place for a hive here in the (large) yard for a number of years.
My apologies in advance for the flavor of this post.... I know that there are much more efficient and practical ways to provide hive space. But one of the housemates (who actually owns the property) would really like to have an old-fashioned British-style bee skiff. We have been unable to find out *anything* about the actual construction of such a thing, other than the pictures of the woven outside basket-dome. That part's easy.
Does anyone know anything about the internal construction *under* the basket-dome that needs to be there to facilitate bees? What little I have been able to find out is that the dome is shading an understructure, and that the dome is elevated, and that the entrance is close to the ground.
Does anyone know anything else about how this old technology was actually put together?