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
Coloss questionnaire COLOSS: Honey Bee Winter Colony Loss Survey2021/2022Dear Beekeeper,Your contribution to this annual survey on colony losses would be much appreciated. Thesurvey aims to …
World Bee Day
“As World Bee Day approaches what better time to be thinking of declaring support for the Native Irish Honey Bee, Apis mellifera mellifera ‘’ Here at …
Protect our Native Bee
“On the island of Ireland authentic populations of native Irish dark honey bees, Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm), still exist in the wild and in many beekeepers hives but they are under threat. …
New NIHBS Conservation Area Officer
New Committee Role Appointment At the last NIHBS AGM held on 12/03/2022 a new Committee post was created to be known as ” Conservation Area Officer “. …
Irish Native Rare Breed Society
There is an article about our native bees on page 15 of the current newsletter There is also Native Irish Honeybee information on the Irish …
AGM 2022
The AGM will take place on Saturday 12th March Reports and information Secretary Report Membership Secretary report Chairperson Report PRO Report Four Seasons Editor’s Report …
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.
