Beekeepers abuzz at annual honey show as new awareness of pollinators fuels interest

The practice of beekeeping is thousands of years old, but as Ireland faces changing weather, the insects still have much to teach us.

“They change your whole perspective on things,” said Redmond Williams, a beekeeper from County Tipperary in attendance at the Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Associations’ (FIBA) 75th annual summer school and honey show. “Once you start beekeeping you become so much more aware of the natural world around you. From flowers, to trees, to wildlife, they just help you learn so much.”

Hundreds of bee and honey enthusiasts are set to descend upon Maynooth University over the course of the weekend, for lectures, workshops, demonstrations and a fiercely competitive honeymaking competition with over forty categories.

Concern about the charismatic pollinators among the wider population has led to the sight of wildflowers among the long grass in the most unlikely of places in recent years, from tidy towns to the gates of Trinity College.

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As the sun radiates down on the University’s South Campus, one could be forgiven for forgetting that July was the wettest on record in Ireland. Conversely, June was the warmest on record, with the unpredictability of the weather leading to complications for beekeepers.

Bee research scientist and keynote speaker at this weekend’s event, Norman Carreck of the University of Sussex, described the difficulty facing producers as weather extremes become more common. “Ireland is quite a marginal place for beekeeping and honey yields are usually quite small,” he said. “The problem often is that when it rains an awful lot when things are flowering, honey production can take a big hit.”

“Bees need somewhere to nest and they need food, and both of those things can be affected by climate change either positively or negatively.”

FIBA president John Donoghue said: “A wet July is a big problem, but the fact we had the June we did has saved us a bit. July is generally the best month for honey flow but we didn’t really experience that this year. We were hoping for a bit of rain after the heat of June and I was thankful to see some at the end of the month, but once it started it didn’t stop.”

More than half of Ireland’s bee species – including important pollinators that are not used in honey production – have endured substantial declines in population, with 42 species seeing over 50 per cent falls since 1980, according to the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC).

In an attempt to mitigate these threats, the NBDC has begun to implement its All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, an initiative welcomed by those in attendance and one which aims to recreate landscapes where pollinators can “survive and thrive”, bypromoting the development of pollinator-friendly spaces in urban areas.

With bees front of mind, more and more people are turning to beekeeping as a hobby. Mr Donoghue disclosed a hope to expand from two days to a five-day event next year to meet demand, in recognition of the “huge uptake” the hobby has seen over the last number of years.

“Before, there was a general attitude that a bee was just out to sting people, but people have begun to realise how important a creature they are and the pivotal role they play in our ecosystem,” he said.

It’s a rewarding pursuit, he said. “You never stop learning. I’ve been at it for 50 years and I still love it. You get to meet fellow enthusiasts and we are like a small village community. People tell us that we talk about honey the way others talk about wine.”

Speaking to the quality of honey on display, Mr Donoghue said: “Irish honey compares very favourably to honeys from across the world. It places very, very well at international shows and has its own distinctive taste, even if they all look the same.”

It’s healthy too, with a 2018 joint study by DCU and Trinity College finding that Irish heather honey possesses health benefits comparable with New Zealand’s world renowned manuka variety.

When asked what he considers to be the best honey, veteran keeper Mr Williams says, “There is nothing better than straight from the source, from the honeycomb itself. It hasn’t been touched by people so it is in its purest form, and that’s how I like mine.”