Our first two native Irish honey bee hives have arrived at Cloudforest One

Our Native Irish Honey Bees on their first day at their new home, Cloudforest One, Lahinch, Co. Clare

Build It & they will come…

Nearly 3 months ago, we announced our exclusive partnership with The Native Irish Honey Bee Society (NIHBS). Since then, we have been working hard behind the scenes to make this partnership something special.

The primary aim of this groundbreaking partnership is, for all our Cloudforests (present & future) to undertake the role of a Voluntary Conservation Area for the Apis mellifera mellifera (native Irish honey bee) with the support of the NIHBS.

The NIHBS was established in November 2012 by a group of beekeepers who wished to support the native Irish honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) throughout the country. Its main aim is to promote the conservation, study, improvement, and re-introduction of Apis mellifera mellifera. They achieve this by establishing conservation areas throughout the island & providing education on bee improvement and increasing public awareness of the native Irish honey bee.

Today, we are delighted to announce that we have become the first private enterprise to undertake the role of a Voluntary Conservation Area, with the installation of our first beehives at Cloudforest One in Lahinch, Co. Clare. A big thank you to Kevin our local Beekeeper (and member of NIHBS) in Lahinch, who will be our Beekeeper at Cloudforest One and will make sure the Bees are well cared for. This a momentous day for Cloudforests as we begin our journey in turning our Forests into enhanced, habitats full of native flora & fauna.

However, this is only the beginning of our plans with the NIHBS, and we have already begun planning for the installation of our next Apis mellifera mellifera Conservation Area on one of our other sites.

For now, we want to tell you a little bit more about the Apis mellifera mellifera, the existential dangers they are facing, and why they are so important.

The native Irish honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) was originally widespread throughout the whole of northern Europe but sadly is no longer prevalent there now, due to hybridisation. It has been hybridised due to imports of other sub-species and consequent cross-breeding, as well as being severely impacted by imported pests and diseases.

However, Scientific research and DNA analysis have confirmed the Irish Apis mellifera mellifera strain to be both pure and distinct. This is due to the magnificent work of Irish Beekeepers, who have been been working for 30 years and more to improve, conserve and preserve our local bees, many of these are now members of the NIHBS & all of whom are volunteers. They are all simply doing the right thing for the bee.

Imported bees have a detrimental effect here and some areas are now being severely threatened by the invasion of non-native bees, as this inevitably leads to hybridisation. Unlike other animals like cattle or pigs, honey bees fly freely and mate openly so the native bee cross-breeds with the imported one, resulting in hybridisation.

There are also imported pests/diseases/pathogens which threaten our Apis mellifera mellifera. One example of this was the Varroa mite which was brought into Ireland on imported honey bees and which then decimated honey bee populations, from which we are still suffering. Now, we face the prospect of the Small Hive Beetle arriving in Ireland. It has already spread into some parts of Italy and would have a devastating effect if it arrived here, on not only the native Irish honey bee, but also our Bumbles, Solitary, and other wild bees. We are already looking at 1/3rd of our Irish bees being threatened with extinction, so another pest entering our population could be catastrophic.

That is why organisations like the NIHBS & their Conservation Areas, like the one at Cloudforest One are so vital for the continuation of the Native Irish Honey Bee.

Finally, we wanted to find out what our beautiful native honey bees would be up to in their first few weeks at Cloudforest One, so we asked the incredibly knowledgable, Aideen Day, from the Native Irish Honey Bee Society, to tell us what to expect:

As we enter May the hive really starts to get busy. The Queen has been laying new summer workers for a while now but as more forage becomes available she can really get going with egg laying.

The primroses are finished flowering and the hedgerows are really coming alive with the early summer flowers. There is also plenty of forage from dandelions available. Dandelions are a huge resource for bees at this time of year because they are so plentiful, have lots of nectar, are easy to forage on and have a long flowering period.

Sitting quietly to the side of the hive and watching is a great way of getting an idea of what is happening inside Watching the entrance to the hive you will see bees landing with pollen sacs bursting. It is great to see the different colour pollen coming in. Mostly mine are bringing in yellow and orange pollen at the moment.

Pollen coming in is a strong indication that the bees have larvae to feed. Also you may notice that some bees 'miss' the landing board and land below it. Then they have to fly around and back to land properly. This is because they are carrying nectar and the weight of it has made them too heavy for an easy landing.

It is worth watching the grass in front of the hive in case you see any sick bees crawling around as this may be an early indication of a problem in the hive. We have had two good weeks of weather which has meant the bees can get out foraging and things are looking good.

The weather can be very variable and at the moment I have not seen any drone bees out yet but I have drone brood in the hives. A sustained period of good weather now will see drones flying. They are a bit late I think this year. Once they start flying the beekeeper will be very busy, the population of the hive will be increasing very rapidly and a nuc will soon need extra space or 'potting on' into a full size box.

If you want to stay up to date with how our Bees are getting on throughout the summer, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, follow our socials & keep an eye on our new Conservation page (see below)