In Uppvidinge we learn about beekeepers, beekeeping and bees – as well as surprising design history about a beehive that aims to satisfy the needs of the bees rather than those of the beekeeper. We talk to Peter Englén, president of Uppvidinge beekeeping society and the person behind the museum.
Can you tell us a bit more about Uppvidinge biodlarmuseum (Uppvidinge beekeeping museum)?
The museum tells the history of beekeeping since the 16th century, from Gustav Vasa to Samuel von Linné [brother of Carl] and Alexander Lundgren. I was fascinated by a German beekeeping museum and thought “If they can do it, so can we!”. And that’s the beginning of Sweden’s perhaps only museum dedicated to beekeeping, where it doesn’t just get a corner of a room. One of the society members had a building that could house the museum, we applied for funding and started to build it. The museum opened its doors in the summer of 2009 and so far we haven’t tired of it.
Would you tell us about Alexander Lundgren and the Svea hive?
Alexander Lundgren was a pioneer of modern beekeeping. In the 1920s he studied bees and developed everything from tools such as the honey extractor or queen catcher, to how to handle diseases and how beehives should be designed. Before this, beehives were mainly made of straw and based on the needs of the hive. Alexander Lundgren concluded that the hives should be designed according to the needs of the queen, how the queen best lays her eggs and what temperature the hive should have. He developed a hive, specifically for the Swedish climate, which he called the Svea hive. But he was ahead of his time, his ideas were considered nonsense and were not particularly well received to begin with.
Modern hives are designed to suit the beekeeper, both from the point of handling and economically. But say Styrofoam hives, which are much cheaper than wooden ones, are the worst possible for the bees. When bees collect nectar and pollen it is moist, the worker bees fan this away, which works wonderfully when there is wood to receive the moist. But in Styrofoam hives the moist has nowhere to go, and you get mould in your hives.
Can you tell us about the production of hives and tools for beekeeping at the Melin Brothers in Ljungby and how that came about?
Alexander Lundgren got in touch with the Melin Brothers in Ljungby, a carpentry workshop that produced sofas and armchairs. Lundgren convinced them to build the Svea hive, something they thought they could do on the side. But production of beehives and beekeeping tools became their focus from 1927 to 1968 when production was taken over by a company in Varberg.
I got hold of one of the sons of the brothers. He still keeps all the company documentation, sketches by Alexander Lundgren, models, products that were made there. It was all very well organised and structured. Amazing to see!
