The Brown Bee

Join us on an exciting journey into the hive at Den Brune Bie!

Bee-safari

Join us on an exciting journey into the hive at Den Brune Bie! Wearing full beekeeping gear, explore the bee's fascinating world, surrounded by buzzing activity. See how the bees live and work in harmony while you are safely protected. A unique experience that will not only excite you, but also inspire you to protect nature and its important creatures.

You can borrow a bee suit and gloves so that you are ready when we open the hives. That's when you really get to see how the bees live - and how all the good honey is made. We have suits in all sizes, so children can also come along with an adult.

Minimum 2 people, maximum 8 people per time. The safari lasts approx. 1 hour.

Including:

Full beekeeping equipment
Guided bee safari with training/introduction to beekeeping
Review of honey production
The story of the Nordic Brown Bee and how bees live and produce honey
Taste tests

About the brown bee

The Nordic black bee is considered to be an ecotype or subspecies of the ancient European bee. The Nordic black bee is the only original bee breed in Northern Europe, and is currently listed as endangered. In the pure nesting areas in Flekkefjord, Lund, Sokndal and Sirdal, it is forbidden to keep bees other than black bees. Here are the natural boundaries such as mountains and seas that isolate the population and prevent mating from other bee breeds.

Thanks to the few beekeepers who choose to participate in the breeding work for the black bee, Norway today has the largest remaining population of black bees. The work done for this bee is essential for the breed to continue to have a future in beekeeping.

Sverre Sirevåg was born in 1927. He started raising bees at the age of 14. At that time he had two hives of his own, and he also bred bees for others. In 2010, daughter Gretha took over the operation together with her husband Geir-Arne and with the help of mentor Sverre.

The beehives are located in various places around Sokndal municipality. The main farm is located at Bjørkhaug approx. 50 meters from their house. What is special here is the flowering in spring which starts early and that there is a generous supply of apple, raspberry, morel, plum, blackberry, clover and dandelion flowers. The other hives are located in areas where there is an abundance of wildflowers, such as bell heather.