Book release at Konstfrämjandet in Stockholm
April 27th 2017 at 18:00 – 19:30
Free admission.

The Political Beekeeper’s Library is an effort by artist and researcher Erik Sjödin to collect, organise, and activate books where parallels are drawn between how bees and humans are socially and politically organised.

The library currently includes a selection of 26 books about bees, written between the 4th century BCE and present day. In addition to dealing with questions about behaviour and social organisation the library also deals with anthropomorphism and zoomorphism, and with questions of science and philosophy in general.

The Political Beekeeper’s Library has now been complemented with a book which will be released and presented at Konstfrämjandet followed by a conversation between Erik Sjödin and Jacob Bull; beekeeper and researcher at the Centre for Gender Research at Uppsala University.

The presentation and conversation will be in English.

The Political Beekeeper’s Library has previously been presented at Art Lab Gnesta and Under tallarna within the project Utlöparna produced by Konstfrämjandet in 2015. With support from Konstnärsnämnden Erik Sjödin has during 2016 edited the selection of books for The Political Beekeeper’s Library and compiled a book and a website which serves as an introduction and index to the library.

Erik Sjödin is an artist and researcher whose practice is concerned with interdependencies and interrelationships between beings, things, and phenomena, as well as philosophical and practical questions about how we live today, have lived in the past, and may live in the future. One of his focus areas is pollinators, and, in particular, relationships between humans and honey bees. His work on this topic has included building habitats for pollinators together with youths, facilitating a reading circle about human and bee relationships, and collecting, organising, and activating books where parallels are drawn between how bees and humans are socially and politically organised.

Jacob Bull is a social and cultural geographer. He is coordinator of the Humanimal Group at Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University. Working with fish, ticks, cattle, and bees his work focuses on the role of animals in understandings of space, place, and identity. He is currently working with a project that investigates how beekeepers in the Nordic region are adapting to changing circumstances. He is also a beekeeper himself.

[The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project. Installation view. Photo: Erik Sjödin]

Last month I got some bakers in Amersfoort to bake sourdough bread with Azolla. The bread would probably have tasted better without Azolla, but it might be healthier with it. It might also cause brain damage. Though probably not, and only if you eat very large quantities of it over a long period of time. Which most people wouldn’t since it doesn’t taste that great.

It’s difficult to say if Azolla in food will become something. It could become a nutritional supplement if further studies prove that it’s healthy, or if people are forced to eat it to avoid starvation or malnutrition. Having worked with this plant on and off for more than six years now, I’ve come to think that Azolla has the most potential as a nitrogen sink and fertiliser in areas where it’s already growing. In India, for example, it’s not uncommon to see people collecting dirty water from small ponds or wells. Azolla could probably be grown in many of these ponds and possibly prevent evaporation, clean the water, deter malaria mosquitos from laying eggs, and be harvested and used as a fertiliser, all at the same time.

[Pat’s Apiary, Westfjords Iceland 2016.]

Beekeeping on Iceland is challenging. The hive above, on Pat’s farm in the Westfjords, is barely surviving, which still is an achievement. The hive below, in Drangsnes, also in the Westfjords, didn’t make it through the winter.

[Sigrún’s Apiary, Westfjords Iceland 2016.]

It’s not uncommon that colonies die already in their first year, but in many parts of Iceland it seems like it’s almost impossible to make honey bees thrive for longer periods. The weather is just too harsh and there’s not enough flowering plants. Around these two hives there’s not even heather. Feeding the bees with more sugar could make up for the lack of flowers, but if all the bees eat is imported sugar then the question is if it wouldn’t be better to just import honey instead.

In other parts of Iceland, where the climate is milder, beekeeping is working out better, but it’s still challenging. People on Iceland have been attempting beekeeping with more or less success from at least the 1940’s, but more organised beekeeping didn’t start until the late 1990’s. Today the Icelandic Bee Association keeps track of 100-150 hives on Iceland. There are beekeepers who get up to 60kg of honey from a hive which is a good harvest, and there’s even a beekeeper who has started to breed queens.

But Iceland is still dependant on importing bees. The bees are imported from Åland, an island in the Baltic sea, between Sweden and Finland. Åland has been lucky and, because of its relative isolation, not been subjected to varroa and other bee diseases. The idea is that by bringing the bees to Iceland from Åland, these diseases can be avoided on Iceland too, and so far it has worked out well.

A quick search at the The National and University Library of Iceland in Reykjavik revealed six pollinators on Iceland: Blomsveifa Syrphus torvus, Letursveifa Sphaerophoria scripta, Randasveifa Helophilus pendulus, Húshumla Bombus lucorum, Lodsveifa Eristalis intricaria, and finally the heath bumblebee (Móhumla Bombus jonellus), which is the only native bee on Iceland. Probably there are more than these on Iceland, but not that many.

If bumble bees, solitary bees and other wild pollinators are subjected to competition from honey bees is not particularly researched. But it’s been shown that there can be competition where there’s a limited amount of flowering plants, which often is the case on Iceland [1]. If beekeeping becomes more popular then perhaps there’s a risk that honey bees outcompete some of the other pollinators on Iceland. On the other hand, given the relatively few locations on Iceland that really are suitable for beekeeping it’s not likely that beekeeping will become ubiquitous anytime soon. More beekeeping would likely go together with changes in the flora and fauna, and in any case honey bees are not the biggest threat to wild pollinators on Iceland. A number of Iceland’s pollinators, including the heath bumblebee, are already at risk of severe population declines if the invasive lupines that were introduced on Iceland in the 1940’s to combat soil erosions continues to replace native flowering plants [2].

[1] Competition between managed honeybees and wild bumblebees depends on landscape context, Lina Herbertsson et al 2016.

[2] Pollinator diversity in native heath and alien Nootka lupine stands in Iceland, Jonathan Willow 2015.

The cultivations in Dome of Visions are part of several experiments carried out while Dome of Visions reside at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Autumn 2016 Dome of Visions invited artist and researcher Erik Sjödin to cook vegetables harvested from the dome on his mobile wood fired stoves. The event was performed as part of the project We Still Carry The Fire, which revolves around human relationships to fire.

Erik cooked “fire soup” using ingredients from Dome of Visions as well as the nearby Bellevue farm and the cultivation cooperative Under tallarna in Järna.

The fire soup turned out great with fresh chili, pumpkin, whole and chopped tomatoes, red shiso and other herbs and flowers + vegetable stock and saffron. It was served with smoked lapsang tea and bread baked in a wood fired stone oven. While the participants tasted the food Erik Sjödin presented the wood fired mobile kitchens and shared some thoughts about humans and fire. 

Thanks to Dome of Visions for vegetables and for organising the event, and to Bellevue farm and Under tallarna for additional soup vegetables.

NOTE: It is generally not permitted to make fires in densely populated areas or during hot and dry summer months. Before making a fire: 1. Check with the fire department if it is allowed to make fire. 2. Don’t make fires if it’s dry and windy. Fire can spread rapidly. 3. Always have fire extinguishing equipment close by. 4. Always be at least two persons, in case something should happen. 5. Make sure you can call for help if there is an accident.

Text: Martha Nicholson, Medicor 2016.

Urban farming is now widely recognised by city planners, academics, public health practitioners and architects alike as part of the solution for a sustainable and reselient future. Here’s a guide on how the practice of urban farming has taken Stockholm by storm, and how to muck in and start farming yourself.

Have people farmed in cities before?

Urban farming is not a new phenomenon. Since the dawn of city life people have grown their own food at times of economic hardship and supply chain disruption. Take wartime Britain for example; in 1917 a home gardening campaign was launched brandishing the mottos “food will win the war” and “dig for victory”. Then there’s the green-fingered allotment and backyard farmers. They grow in pursuit of weekend pleasure and perfect lettuces, but prefer to act alone (not usually seen in groups). These urban farming members have become somewhat of an elite in Stockholm. The rising prices of land and the 10-20 year waiting list for allotment space means not everyone can be part of this exclusive club.

Why start farming now?

Now’s the time for new community initiatives to gain traction in Stockholm. Exciting high-tech ideas have swept through cities with the aim to reduce the distance hydroponics system in Berlin? It’s more or less a highly sophisticated Perspex cube that grows herbs, radishes and greens inside grocery stores with the power of LED lighting and fertilizer. Then there’s the Brooklyn Grange Farm project in New York City which has developed a cultivation network on rooftops and unused space for a “fiscally sustainable model for urban agriculture”.

These cities are making giant leaps in fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.4 which aims to ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices”. So what have Stockholm’s residents done to build systemised urban farming? There are lots of exciting projects, but my favourite has to be the renaissance of farming land on the abandoned rail tracks of Södermalm. It’s been built by the community initiative Trädgård på Spåret, or “Garden on Tracks”. Sustained by volunteers and a summertime café, this really is the essence of urban farming. Then we have the home-grown organisation, Plantagon (plantagon.com), a vertical farming initiative that has designed an inner city greenhouse based in Linköping to produce 500 tonnes of crops every year. Construction is due to start in 2016, so watch this space.

[Beekeeping at Eggeby Gård 2015. Photo: Erik Sjödin.]

Erik Sjödin

Artist and urban farming researcher Erik Sjödin invited me to his studio in Årsta to discuss the social benefits of the urban farming movement in Stockholm.Having collaborated with farmers in and around Stockholm for over five years, he has seen progress with community initiatives and has campaigned for the protection of green space where it is needed the most. Erik has a portfolio of art and research projects exploring human relationships to bees and growing alternative food sources such as the water fern Azolla.

As we sat in Erik’s studio on a frozen February afternoon (too cold for farming), he was planning a talk on the “Future of Food”, at the Openlab’s Dome of Visions at KTH, which is also a KI collaboration. I wanted to know what his main message to the audience was going to be. Erik explained that in the midst of our citydwelling and consumerist lifestyles, we project our own socially constructed values onto our food. “We are conditioned to seek the perfect shaped vegetables and let the food industry dictate our choices through advertising campaigns for addictive fatty and sugary foods. The food industry is cutting corners on the quality of products to ensure profits. That has to change.” Erik admits that the industry is beginning to adapt to a more producer aware consumer that is interested in eating a diverse, healthy and low-impact vegetarian diet. Erik adds, “so it’s up to us all to check where our food is produced and hold industries accountable.”

Urban farming is an opportunity for us to shift our values as city-dwellers and focus on the process of nurturing plants and rearing animals. This will reduce waste and nurture healthy lifestyles in urban communities. Communal farming creates spaces where you find diverse activities and groups of people coexisting. City planners are on it and are now using these spaces as a tool to break down the barriers between socio-economic, ethnic and age groups, creating a more cohesive society.

Health benefits

Erik told me about some of the therapeutic effects of producing your own food. “It goes without saying that eating fresh produce is good for you, but another benefit to urban farming is the action of getting outside and interacting with other people and the natural world. It is the perfect medium for contact with outside space for people with rehabilitation and care needs. Scientific studies at the Agricultural University of Sweden have shown the mental health benefits to farming, but in a way it’s common sense that having exposure to daylight and being physically active is good for you. There are many community initiatives in and around Stockholm that have used urban farming to help people with health problems such as burnout, depression, or neurodevelopmental disorders. Also, hospital gardens have shown therapeutic effect for people with longterm chronic conditions.”

[Green house at Under tallarna 2015. Photo: Erik Sjödin.]

Getting involved in communal cultivation

So how can we all get involved in this green revolution? It’s simpler than you think. You won’t have to shop around long to find a locally sourced product to buy or an urban farming group to sign up to.

Erik explained: “Urban farming is adapting. Since allotments in the city have long waiting lists and are increasingly expensive to upkeep, we’re seeing a new group of people interested in community action, with collaborations from sociallyaware groups that want to see a greener and more intelligent use of urban space”. With spring just around the corner, why not investigate how you can help with urban farming at an elderly people’s home, school or daycare centre in your community? Alternatively, Erik had four recommendations for volunteer-friendly urban farms and community gardens in and around Stockholm:

Trädgård på Spåret in Södermalm
Vintervikens trädgård in Liljeholmen
Under tallarna near Järna
Hästa gård on Järvafältet near Akalla

Vertical Farming

For the lucky few with access to a rooftop or balcony, the world truly is your cabbage patch. Try growing your own vegetables this spring. Start simple with potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes and very soon you’ll have your own personal harvest. Openlab is running workshops and events throughout 2016 to help beginner farmers develop more sophisticated permaculture techniques. There’s also plenty of online resources to help you make the most of your space, no matter how small, with vertical farming strategies.

Erik described some of the architectural design ideas being factored in when building or renovating apartments. “Architects can make it easier for us to grow crops on balconies by building integrated drainage systems for water and even integrating clever automated watering systems and composting. Providing infrastructure for access to soil and water in public spaces will also facilitate more people to start farming”.

Addressing the challenges that Stockholm will face in the next few years will take more than just urban farming. To sustain a happy and resilient population, we need more than just local harvests and cohesive communities. But what we can do is to shorten the gap between farm and fork, bring communities together with collaborative projects and redesign the perception of the “perfect plate”. We are moving one muddy step at a time in the right direction for a more sustainable future.

[Apple picking at Under tallarna 2015. Photo: Erik Sjödin.]

“Ett växande intresse för den gröna hållbara staden gör sig idag påmint på olika sätt i vårt samhälle, inte minst genom en växande skara stadsodlare och nyvunnet intresse för kolonilottsrörelsen. Det är många som när en vilja att bokstavligen sätta nävarna i jorden men långt från alla stadens invånare har tillgång vare sig till en trädgård eller en kolonitäppa. Finns det andra sätt att tänka kring odling? Hur kan vi inta och utforska våra gröna närområden? Och vad händer när vi gör det tillsammans?

Slakthusområdets Hembygdsförening välkomnar dig att vandra i vårt närområde tillsammans med Emelie Rekestad, trädgårdsmästare med specialkunskap om vilda ätliga växter. Under en eftermiddag utforskar vi tillsammans de grönområden som finns runt omkring Slakthusområdet och lär oss känna igen och plocka av de ätliga växter som finns där. Efter vandringen samlas vi på Slakthusatejéernas bakgård för att tillsammans tillaga växtfynden på ett vedeldat mobilt kök tillverkat av konstnären Erik Sjödin.”

De mobila köken är del av projektet Vi bär fortfarande på elden. Tack till Slakthusområdets hembygdsförening, Emelie Rekestad och Slakthusatljéerna.

[Vegan Azolla Pancakes. Photo: Erik Sjödin]

In March 2016 scientist at Oxford published a comprehensive study on the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change. The study puts figures on what seems to be becoming a more common notion; that eating vegetarian / vegan is a good idea both for individual peoples health and the planet in general.

[The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project at Umeå Skafferi.]

With this study in mind here is a recipe for vegan Azolla pancakes. Summer-autumn 2014 The Azolla Cooking and Cultvation Project participated in the Survival Kit Festival in Umeå. In participation with Umeå Pantry, a project by My Villages, we cooked vegetable soup and pancakes with dried Azolla.

Umeå has a strong tradition of veganism and the pancakes were cooked by the local artist Alexander Svartvatten, based on the recipe for vegan pancakes below and served with locally picked blueberries. If vegan Azolla pancakes are healthy or not remains to be proven, but at least these pancakes proved that they can be delicious.

Vegan Azolla Pancakes (4 servings)

1 dl dried azolla
9 dl soy milk
6 dl spelt flour
0,75 tsp salt
5 tbsp rape seed oil

[Beekeeper Hannes Norr demonstrates a top bar hive in Hjulsta.]

Top-bar hives are an alternative to regular beehives. They are fun and easy to build and use, and potentially better for the bees. They are not so common in Sweden, but they are gaining in popularity and it will be interesting to see how they will compare to regular hives.

It’s possible to build a top-bar bee hive in a day or two. The photos below are from a do-it-together top-bar hive workshop facilitated by Aron Adobati at Solåkrabyn in Järna in Sweden. With great planning, instructions and pre-made jigs the participants built nine hives in one day. The hives even include extras like sloped roofs, inspection windows, and removable bottom trays.

[Top-bar Hive Workshop at Solåkrabyn 2015.]

In the spring the hives will be used by the cultivation cooperative Under tallarna in Järna and first-time beekeepers in the area.

[Our Friends the Pollinators, at Eggeby gård 2015.]

The photos above show top-bar hives for honeybees built by summer job youths. The hives were built using wood recycled from an installation built by artist Celine Condorelli at Tensta konsthall. These hives show that with some basic tools even inexperienced builders can build a functional top-bar hive at a very low cost. These hives didn’t have any inspection windows. While inspection windows are fun and potentially useful for the beekeeper it’s likely better for the bees to not have one, since cold can seep in through it in the winter.

The top-bar hives at Solåkra were built using drawings by Philip Chandler, “The Barefoot Beekeeper” and the hives at Eggeby gård and Hjulsta were built following instructions by the Swedish beekeeper Patrick Sellman.

Art and Food, Tate 35, Fanny Singer (2015)

The Palate, The Palette and The Planet. Fanny Singer, Tate Etc #35 (2015).

This summer I have introduced the water fern to Under tallarna (Under the pines), a progressive culture and cultivation community in Järna outside of Stockholm.

[Azolla Cultivation at Under tallarna 2015.]

Azolla grows year around in tropical and temperate regions. It’s one of the world’s fastest growing plants and it can be very invasive, in many places it’s considered a weed. In Sweden it can’t survive the winters when the water freezes [Update: It turns out that Azolla actually can survive quite harsh winters with prolonged freezing of the pond water], which is good because it prevents it from spreading uncontrollably. However, in the summer it can grow really well. At Under tallarna we planted a couple of handfulls in July and it covered the whole pond in the photos above, as well as two smaller ponds, in about a month. From then on it has kept growing. In September Under tallarna harvested most of it to try it out as mulch and compost. It’s difficult to know how much nitrogen Azolla fixates from the air, since it also can take up nitrogen from the water, but it should provide both a positive nitrogen and carbon input to the site.

The ducks at Under tallarna eat Azolla, but they also have access to other food and we have not made any effort to measure how much Azolla they eat. We also haven’t tried to determine if the Azolla influences their health or egg production. It might have a positive effect, since it has shown to increase cow’s milk production. On the other hand there are some health concerns with Azolla that I have written about in a previous post. My impression is that the ducks are slightly bothered about the Azolla when it covers the whole surface of their pond, since it makes it more difficult for them to swim and dive, but that they enjoy having it around otherwise.