Thirty-seven Icelandic bee farmers, 30 of whom are newcomers, accepted beehives in boxes from the Aaland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland, in Ellidahvammur, Reykjavík, yesterday.
Icelandic bee farmers have sold their products in the past years during a harvest festival in the Reykjavík Zoo and Family Park in late summer. The photo is not directly related to the story. From heilsubot.is.
Half of the new bee farmers are women and many of them are hobby farmers. Most of the novices attended a beginner’s course held by Egill Rafn Sigurgeirsson, who has practiced bee farming since 1988, first in Sweden and in Iceland since 1998, Morgunbladid reports.
Five Icelandic bee farmers traveled to the Aaland Islands to bring home the new bees in 64 boxes. Each box contains approximately 15,000 bees and one queen. Sigurgeirsson described the bees as “incredibly tame.”
Bee farming is practiced widely abroad and goes well with other farming. However, the Icelandic climate has made it difficult to thrive here, especially the wind. In the winter, the beehives must be kept inside.
