Heathland Beekeeping - truly inspirational documentary

"Heath beekeeping (German: Heideimkerei) was a specialist form of beekeeping, which was intensively practised by beekeepers on the Lüneburg Heath from the Middle Ages until the 19th century, but which is now very rarely encountered. It was also referred to as Lüneburger Schwarmbienenzucht (Lüneburg honey bee breeding) Lüneburger Heideimkerei (Lüneburg Heath beekeeping) or Lüneburger Korbimkerei (Lüneburg basket beekeeping). Typical features were beehives made of plaited straw baskets or skeps, the use of heathland flowers, frequent moving of bees to worthwhile feeding areas and the enormous multiplication of bee colonies through swarming." -wikipedia

Enjoy this great documentary.

Thank you so much Oystein for posting that link. I have just spent two wonderful evenings watching all the episodes. Lots to learn from these guys!

I was saddened to learn however that the younger members of the family have decided not to continue with beekeeping.

This documentary demonstrates making skeps from scythed wheat straw and using stripped blackberry cane to tie the straw:

It was because I watched this video series that I discovered it is a rumor that the beekeepers killed the colonies to harvest the honey from out of the skeps.

Great series but its a really quite intrusive, and intense, method of beekeeping.