Native Irish Honey Bee Society
Available to Purchase Below
“The Native Irish Honey Bee, Apis mellifera mellifera” focuses exclusively on the native Irish honey bee, featuring narratives on its evolution, genetics, history and conservation, with practical “How-to” sections on bee improvement, plus real-life stories from commercial beekeepers. Its aims are to increase awareness of and appreciation for the precious resources imbued in the native black honey bee, to encourage beekeepers to choose native Irish honey bees and to discourage the buying and importation of non-native honey bees.
Latest NIHBS News
THE PROTECTION OF THE NATIVE IRISH HONEY BEE BILL THIRD READING
THE PROTECTION OF THE NATIVE IRISH HONEY BEE BILL IS PROVISIONALLY SCHEDULED FOR ITS THIRD READING IN THE SEANAD TODAY (November 8th, 2022) AT 19.00. …
Normandy black bee gets protected species status and queen bee project
The programme aims to boost numbers of the native bee – local breeds of pig, donkey and goose have also been put on protected list, …
Normandy black bee gets protected species status and queen bee project
The program aims to boost numbers of the native bee – local breeds of pig, donkey, and goose have also been put on the protected …
Congratulations to Edmond Kirwan
Congratulations to Edmond Kirwan, cleaning up in the Royal County Honey show and fair this year 2022, with the help of his Native Irish Honey …
Happy 90th Birthday Micheál Mac Giolla Coda
Happy 90th Birthday to Micheál Mac Giolla Coda, Founder of Galtee Honey Farm and a leader in The Native Irish honey bee conservation. Since Aoife …
Hillsborough Honey Fair
The Hillsborough Honey Fair is back and bigger than ever! Discover over 50 high-quality local producers and food vendors with a wide range of local …
About NIHBS
The Native Irish Honey Bee Society was established to promote the conservation of Apis mellifera mellifera throughout the island of Ireland. The Society strives to raise public awareness of our native honey bee and its importance, and acts in an advisory capacity to groups and individuals wishing to promote and preserve it.
What Our Native Honey Bee Looks Like
Apis mellifera mellifera (aka European dark bee) can be distinguished from other subspecies by its stocky body, overall dark coloration, plus abundant thoracic and sparse abdominal hair, which is brown. There can be heavy dark pigmentation of the wings. Overall, when viewed from a distance, these bees should appear blackish or rich dark brown.
Bee Improvement
As part of our conservation mission, NIHBS advocates that Irish beekeepers buy native bees. To that end, NIHBS is affiliated with multiple bee breeding groups located around the country. Find out more about them by clicking the button below.
