A bee bole is a cavity or alcove in a wall or a separate free-standing structure set against a wall (the Scots word 'bole' means a recess in a wall). A skep is placed inside the bee bole. Before the development of modern bee hives (such as the design published by Lorenzo Langstroth in 1853), bee boles were almost the only practical way of keeping bees in Britain. The bee bole helped to keep the wind and rain away from the skep and the bees living inside.