As part of Biodiversity week 19th – 27th May 2018, Members of the Beaufort Beekeepers Club visited a selection of schools in The Beaufort/ Faha / Killarney area. Schools visited were Faha National School, St Olivers National school Killarney, Fossa National School, Killarney Community College and Gaelscoil Faithleann, Cill Airne Students were informed of the vital role Bees play in sustaining the planet’s ecosystems and were encouraged to play their part in supporting pollinators at home by planting flowers etc . As always the stars of the show were the bees themselves. Thanks to 'Tuddy' for supplying us with a glass viewing hive which providing an opportunity for hundreds of students to view the workings of a live honey bee colony.

See All images from Biodiversity Week

In the past few years the Beaufort Beekeepers have put their heart and soul in enlightening the public about the importance of the honey bee. Astellas Pharma Ireland has acknowledged the hard work and made a recognisable donation to the Beaufort Beekeepers Association in May 2018.The money will be used to run beekeeping courses and hold information talks on beekeeping and the honey bee. The Beaufort Beekeepers are grateful for this donation and would like to thank Astellas Pharma Ireland, Killorglin, Co. Kerry.

Picture: Louis Collins Senior Director of Operations for Astellas (Right) presenting the cheque to Tuddy Clifford of BBA (Left)

2 swarms caught by Uli & Conor.

The nice weather had arrived finally so myself and Uli met up to go through 2 of my hives. After a very long winter and very few opportunities to go through the hives at ease, Friday was looking very promising!

All was set up nicely except for the fact that my smoker had gone missing . We had a choice of going without a smoker and proving our manliness or driving all the way out to Uli’s house to get his. We opted for the smoker (Uli’s choice… just saying) and drove out to Faha.

While grabbing the smoker we noticed a bit of commotion with the bees and Uli spotted a swarm hanging from a branch only about 10 meters from his hive.

This short video about beekeeping has been developed in conjunction with students of the Kerry ETB (Education Training Board) and the Beaufort Beekeepers Association. The video features 2 of our founding members (Dan and Tuddy) and the chairperson (Ulrich) and reflects our mindset at the Beaufort Beekeepers - being focused on natural beekeeping, preserving the craft and the honeybee! Enjoy the video and contact us, if you have any queries or want to join a vibrant honey bee association in Co. Kerry. Finally, we thank Seamus and Peter for their work and time invested in this educating video clip. It was a pleasure working with you in the apiary. You are pure professionals.

Beekeeping has always been an important activity in Beaufort, Co. Kerry and has been practiced by people in the area for hundreds of years.

The Beaufort Beekeepers are a friendly bunch of people who are interested in bees and beekeeping and of course, everything associated with it, from using the wax and propolis, to producing honey and helping to conserve our native black honey bee (Apis melifera melifera).

We are an association of hobbyist beekeepers founded in 2011 by a small group and now our membership numbers stands at forty two. We don’t limit ourselves to beekeepers from Beaufort as we have members coming to us from as far south as Waterville, from Tralee to the north and Gneeveguilla in the east!