Join our community!
Local Buzz is all about getting you involved in urban beekeeping and local honey production.
Let's talk membership perks:
What does it mean to be a member?
Local Buzz functions through a membership-based model where anyone, regardless of honeybee knowledge or experience, can own a share of our community hives.
We visit our bees regularly during the season, harvest honey several times, and share it equally among us. Our 3 community hives are cared for by Idil, and the main responsibility for the wellbeing of the hive lies with her. This means you get hands-on involvement without any worries, and get into beekeeping under her mentorship.
There are two memberships: hands-on and basic. The difference is simple: the number of visits at the hives. Suits and gloves are provided so you just need to bring a curious mind. Now read below your rights as a member. We will go through this during the webinar.
Hands-on visits take place (almost) weekly between April to mid-September in small groups of 5.
- Hands-on members get 4-5 visits in total, and use them once a month. Basic members get 1 visit by invite.
- Hive visits will take place on Tuesdays kl.16, as long as the weather permits.
- Hive visits last around 1.5 hours, depending on the task. After getting dressed, Idil introduces the day’s goals and explains what is happening inside the hive and what it means step by step. Hive visits are very interactive and you get to use tools and practice. There are always numerous moments of learning and opportunities to link practice with theory.
- Every visit’s highlights are recorded in a beekeeping diary, which is a part of the Learning Platform, in order to bridge the gap between hive inspections. Newsletters summarise monthly developments at the hives.
- A sign-up sheet is shared where you can view available spots.
- Estimated amount per member is app. 3 kg of honey. Ever year we surpass this amount.
- In 2025, members got ca. 5 kg honey each.
- By harvesting at 3 different times of the season, we get various exciting kinds of honey.
- In 2022, Local Buzz won two gold medals in the honeydew (honningdugg) category at NM i Honning (the National Norwegian Honey Championship).
- In 2020 and 2023, Local Buzz won silver medals at NM i Honning!
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Collected throughout the year, the beeswax is rendered at the end of the season and divided into a share for each member.
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A 2 hour webinar to set you up for success! Every member gets to attend the webinar.
- It is very important for first-time beekeepers to attend the seminar, hopefully preparing you theoretically and spiritually for your first hive visit.
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Topics covered:
- The community inside the hive and their biology
- Beekeeping equipment, tools and protocols
- Seasons and changes of life inside the hive
- Q&A
- Local Buzz membership perks
- Learning platform: Resources and support tools for new beekeepers!
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Honey is harvested three times per season, from late June to late August, capturing different nectar flows. By the end of the summer, you’ll have three distinct honeys, each reflecting the season it came from.
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Each extraction workshop lasts app. 4 hours, with dates announced in May. Expect sticky hands, shared honey, and a memorable hands-on experience straight from the hive.
- Every member gets to attend 1 honey extraction workshop.
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October is the time for a guided tasting workshop to appreciate and explore the differences in honey’s taste profiles.
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We will be using a honey-vocabulary wheel and sensory chart to help us translate what we sense into words.
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Idil will also share with you very interesting and special monofloral honeys she has collected throughout her travels, and you can also bring an interesting honey to taste!
- Every member gets to attend this workshop.
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In this workshop in November, you’ll learn how to render and repurpose beeswax yourself, and walk away with your wax share.
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Every member gets to attend this workshop.
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Beeswax is a beautiful substance produced by honeybees themselves, and we ensure that no part of this valuable material goes to waste by carefully collecting and rendering it after harvest.
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Beeswax can then be used in a variety of ways, from making candles and natural cosmetics to food wraps and even wood polish. We talk about its properties and historical significance and we share recipes.
And more!
Newsletters
‘The Local Buzzer’ monthly newsletters are a source of real-time information to fill you in between hive visits.
Learning platform
With season-specific videos, blogposts, webinar slides, the beekeeping diary and the hive visit attendance sheet.
Collective photo album
Taking pics at the hives is tricky! We have a shared album so everyone can upload their photos and also have access.
Become a member!
Discover collaborative beekeeping, nature's rhythm in the hives and beekeeping opportunities. Become part of a novel model for food production, connect with like-minded individuals, and support your local beekeeper.
Why join Local Buzz Andelsbirøkterlag?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to take care of honeybees, get a close-up view of their fascinating lives and participate in local honey production?
Currently, in order to establish a connection with honeybees you need to commit to own your own beehives. But what if you lack the financial resources, knowledge, experience, or even the space to do so?
Local Buzz fills in this gap by inviting you to become a co-beekeeper of our community hives. You subscribe to a membership and we help you with everything to take that first step to care for honeybees and produce honey.
About
Local Buzz
Founded in the autumn of 2020 by Idil Akdos during an urban agriculture conference, Local Buzz Andelsbirøkterlag is one of the first initiatives engaging citizens in a community-supported beekeeping model.
Andelsbirøkt is a form of Andelsbruk, operating with the same principles applied to beekeeping.
See Local Buzz in the Andelsbruk map of Norway here!
Local Buzz brings people closer to honey bees through low-threshold, hands-on beekeeping activities, encouraging participation in local, sustainable, and ethical honey production. By using the honey bee as a bridge, Local Buzz connects people to food, culture, and nature through meaningful engagement.
Local Buzz has served as pilot project for FoodE Horizon project, and has been presented at Apimondia, World Beekeeping Congress in 2025.
Local Buzz Andelsbirøkterlag operated at the rooftop of Greenhouse Oslo for 4 years. Due to the building getting demolished, Local Buzz moved to Stensparken nærmiljøhage in 2025. The apiary is located at a quiet corner, tucked away from the visitors of the park, where there is ample access to flowers. There is a shared room with a meeting space, a kitchenette and small toilet alongside storage areas, which will also be available to us.
What to expect?
- This program is English. You can expect a diverse like-minded community from very different backgrounds who share a similar interest as you!
- A LOT of learning moments. Once we open the hive, countless inspiring and fascinating moments of learning will emerge. However, this isn’t a formal educational program, but rather praxis, so what we learn depends on what happens at the hives at that moment! Your personal engagement is key to your learning. The more involved you are, the more you learn.
- Clean, local, unprocessed and hard-earned raw honey + precious Norwegian wax + numerous bee facts up your sleeve.
- Hot summer afternoons in the beekeeping suit
- Heavy box lifting, good for muscles; but many hands make light work!
- The simple delight of seeing the bees at work
- The pure happiness of connecting with a superorganism and getting to understand a little bit of their world
- The novelty of participating in a CSB/Andelsbirøkterlag, which is a rarity in Norway as well as Europe!
