Testimonial for NIHBS and Amm from Lleyn & Eifionydd Beekeepers’ Association
We are a beekeeping association in northwest Wales, just across the sea from Ireland, and we enthusiastically support the statement from The Native Irish Honey Bee Society ‘Against Importing Bees into Ireland’.
The Welsh Beekeepers’ Association (WBKA), the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) and the Bee Improvement & Bee Breeders Association (BIBBA) all recommend the sourcing and keeping of locally adapted honey bees. Beekeepers are demonstrating their opposition to the importing of honey bees in an ongoing Parliamentary Petition, “Stop the importation of honey bees into GB from the EU via Northern Ireland”, sponsored by the Chair of BBKA – where the current number of respondents is 16,106.
In our association area we have dark honey bees that we keep in our hives; exactly the same bees also live locally in trees and buildings. Recent genetic research has indicated that some of these bees are populations of native or near native Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm) honey bees.
Following the example of many beekeeping associations in Ireland, Lleyn & Eifionydd Beekeepers’ Association have made a Statement on a Voluntary Conservation Area (VCA) for our native honey bee. In this Statement we provide supporting information for the views and facts expressed in this testimonial; it is published in the spring edition 2021 of the WelshBeekeeper: https://view.publitas.com/welsh-beekeeper/211spring2021/page/10-11
We hope The Native Irish Honey Bee Society and all the beekeepers of Ireland who support this ban on importing bees into their country will be successful, and that Wales and the UK will follow this lead.
Lleyn & Eifionydd Beekeepers’ Association
May 2021
