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Keeping brown bees

5 bytes added, 12:58, 19 April 2016
The Nordic brown bee was the first honey bee subspecies to colonize the northern Europe, which is why it has adapted to northern environments in many ways. The Nordic brown bee was also the first subspecies to be farmed for honey production in these areas. Now, this unique bee’s existence is threatened in its own fieldnative habitat. They are, in fact, only kept in a few places in the whole of Europe. The remaining populations of this unique bee can only be conserved with successful practical beekeeping. This is why we need more beekeepers who are interested in and able to keep ''Apis mellifera mellifera'' bees.
Because of long-term adaptation to the Nordic environment, the Nordic brown bee also has some special features in its physiology, behavior, and in its responses to the environment. All this must be taken into account during the management and handling of the bee colony. This wiki is designed to help you find practical and suitable management techniques for keeping Nordic brown bees.
If you’re considering keeping Nordic (''A. m. mellifera'') bees, you don’t have to start with them. You can, by all means, learn the basic skills of beekeeping with other subspecies, like Italian (''A. m. ligustica'') or Craniolan (''A. m.c arnica'') bees, and change your bees to ''A. m. mellifera'' bees later.