A quick update on our Cloudforest Five bees

As we blogged last month, our fantastic beekeeper friend John from the Native Irish Honey Bee Society (NIHBS) is preparing some hives for our Cloudforest Five site in Mountoven, Co. Kerry. We caught up with him today to see how that project is coming along.

The hives are built and ready to rock, and John is now minding a swarm he recently collected until they’re ready to move to their new home. They’re currently building up their strength in their brood box, and when they have between 8 and 10 frames filled, they’ll be ready to transfer to their new home.

Unfortunately though, it’s not just us that have been trapped at home under our duvets during the recent wet weather. While honey bees can fly during rain, it’s dangerous and they prefer not to. This means they’re taking a little longer to build up their frames - but that’s ok, John is minding them and has a plan in place if they’re still not ready by the Autumn!

What are we working to protect?

The work John and other members of NIHBS do is so important to the conservation and development of our native Irish honey bee population, and we’re delighted to be able to support them by providing safe locations for their hives.

The importation of bees into Ireland causes many challenges for Irish beekeepers, and threatens our native bee population. From hybridisation to imported pests and diseases, the obstacles presented by imported bees are huge. The Dark European honey bee now faces extinction by hybridisation across Europe, and Ireland is the last bastion where pure strains still exist.

This week, NIHBS and other beekeeping organisations across the island of Ireland have released a Statement Against Imports - you can read it here.