Welcome to
nordbi.org - the homepage for the Swedish organisation for saving the native
bee.Projekt NordBi
Welcome to
nordbi.org - the homepage for the Swedish organisation for saving the native
bee.
On this page you will find a small concentrate from the other pages written in Swedish.
A short history
Several attempts have been maintained for saving the Swedish native bee,
but earlier difficulties have stopped the efforts. In 1990 when the native bee
was dangerously close to becoming extinct Projekt NordBi was started.
After seeking all over the country we found a number of interesting apiaries with colonies with good morphological characteristics. Then it was time for starting the breeding programme.
Annually we produce slightly above 500 safely mated queens. Our two mating stations are Lurö in Lake Vänern and Hästliden close to Umeå. In Jämtland there are several safe mating places in the north part of the county. Some tens are inseminated as well. In Lurö the drones usually come from about 5 sister colonies and in Hästliden from a larger population of our best strains.
Breeding programme
Our breeding material come partly from Bohuslän and Dalsland north of Gothenburg, from Värmdö outside Stockholm but most of it derives from Jämtland and Västerbotten.
Every strain used in the breeding programme is controlled by cubital index, dicoidal angel and mtDNA. The limits we use for CI are 1,5 to 1,7 and the discoidal angel must be negative. Every year we try to measure the wings of promising colonies.
The black bee has a bad reputation in Sweden. But the truth is that our black bees are docile, productive and healthy. We work to improve our bees for less swarming and minimize chalk brood, areas where lots of work still remains.
Cooperation
We cooperate with Læsø, Denmark, from where we have a great deal of breeding material, with Flekkefjord in Norway and with Hailuoto and other places in Finland. Every second year we meet on a conference in Östersund to which we invite our neighbours, too. Next conference will be held in Hallsberg in 2006.
19-25 august 2000 our biannual conference took place at Kroppefjälls Fritidscenter in Dalsland 120 km north of Gothenburg. The two day conference was held in Jämtland. 60 participants from 12 European contries came and enjoyed the conference, our country and our bees.
The 4th International Conference for the Conservation of the Dark European Honeybee was held in Sweden 2000
The 6th International Conference for the Conservation of the Dark European Honeybee was held on Læsø, Denmark 10-12 September 2004