Taken from 'The Kerryman' December 15 2018 12:00 AM
 written by Tadgh Evans

Club members at the Beaufort Beekeepers' Association have honoured Kilgobnet's Dan O'Sullivan by making him the association's first Honorary President.
Mr O'Sullivan received the John Foley Memorial Cup, named in honour of a member who passed away earlier this year following a short illness. 

He was known worldwide and won world titles for the quality of his honey. The trophy was presented to Mr O'Sullivan for his diligence when it comes to attending club meetings and for his willingness to impart his 40 years' knowledge of beekeeping to fellow members.

With such a prestigious title and trophy up for grabs in the club's regular meeting spot, the Beaufort Bar and Restaurant, last Thursday, it was the members' unanimous view that Mr O'Sullivan should become the first recipient of both honours.

As part of biodiversity week, Tuddy Clifford (Bee Education & Health Officer) and Ulrich Schraewer (Chairman) of the Beaufort Beekeepers Association gave a talk on beekeeping and the importance of the honey bee.
The presentation contained an entertaining slide show, the display of a bee hive and the showing of the observation hive. To begin the audience was challenged to identify the honey bee on various pictures (incl. wasps and solitary bees) of bees. The difference between wasps and bees was clarified.
The audience had a real chance to dive into the amazing world of bees by viewing spectacular pictures of bees & pollen and of course the live bees in the observation hive. Ulrich and Tuddy told astonishing stories on bees, the way the communicate (perform a waggle dance) and fly hundred-thousands of miles to collect nectar for honey.

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.