The move to Boden reaches new heights!

Dressed for a side job unlike any other, Municipal Commissioner Béatrice Öman welcomed the municipality's newest residents on the Town Hall rooftop. The newly arrived bee colony has moved into its own "Boden Castle"— a home fit for a queen and her crew.

"Our goal is to have more residents than Luleå, perhaps even Umeå. With all these new co-workers, we're well on our way," says Béatrice Öman as she carefully lifts the new hive into place.

The bees quickly settled into their new home, orienting themselves to their surroundings. By lunchtime on the very same day, we could already spot some of our hardworking and peaceful new colleagues collecting nectar in the Town Hall park.

Biodiversity

Bees may be small, but they play a vital role as pollinators in the ecosystems that sustain our lives and communities. Urban beekeeping has become increasingly common in cities around the world, and the Municipality of Boden introduced its own initiative back in 2019. However, when the widespread varroa mite infestation affected bee populations across Sweden, our municipal bees were also impacted. As a result, the hive has stood empty for some time—until now.

Our municipal bees will primarily contribute to pollination and biodiversity in central Boden. They can travel up to two kilometres from the hive and will likely visit the Parks Department's beautiful flower beds, green spaces, private gardens, and balcony planters throughout the surrounding area.

"We're hoping the new colony will thrive and grow well. Everything looks very promising," says Carl-Göran Olofsson, Environmental Inspector—and a beekeeper in his spare time.

Together with his colleague Niclas Granström, who is also a beekeeper outside of work, he is responsible for supervising the hive.

The hope is that, within a year or so, the municipality will once again be able to produce its own honey. This honey will be unique—not only because it comes from the Town Hall rooftop and is managed by a public authority, but also because the location creates an unusually distinctive and concentrated variety of urban honey. We'll be happy to tell you more about that when it's time to fill the jars.

Symbolic and Beneficial

Any honey produced is a welcome and delicious by-product, but it is not the primary purpose of the hive. Beyond supporting pollination, the beehive on the Town Hall rooftop symbolises everything happening in Boden right now: diversity, sustainability, hard work, community building—and growth through new arrivals.

A warm welcome to our 25,000 newest New in Boden residents! We hope you'll enjoy the close-to-everything lifestyle that makes Boden special and experience the same warm hospitality that has greeted so many who have chosen to make Boden their home.