Native Irish Honey Bee Society – Apis mellifera mellifera

Native Irish Honey Bee Society
Apis mellifera mellifera

Native Irish Honey Bee Society

Come Join Our Online Book Launch

18th September 2021 19.30 to 21.00

Online Book Launch by Micheál Mac Giolla Coda, followed by
Guest Speaker, Professor Thomas Seeley – The Lives of Bees, the Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild

Free Raffle

Your name will automatically be entered when you register or pre-order the book. A Zoom link will be emailed to all registered attendees before the event date.

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

Natural Selection – Beowulf Cooper (autumn 2008)

Reproduced from: Beowulf Cooper in Village Bees:  The native and near-native bees of Britain and Ireland, April 1968 When a native bee crosses with a ...
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Growth in membership

The Native Irish Honey Bee Society now has over 220 members. The next edition of the Four Seasons Magazine should be out shortly. Members receive ...
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The Dark Bee in … Southern England – Terry Clare (summer 2008)

As in Ireland, there are variations in environmental conditions throughout England despite both countries having oceanic climates.  For example, north of a line drawn through ...
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Queen rearing – Tom Prendergast (spring 2008)

Anyone involved with industry will be familiar with the term “continuous Improvement”.  Beekeepers should adopt a similar approach and implement an improvement programme.  This can ...
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Queen rearing discussion – various (spring 2008)

A panel consisting of Tom Prendergast, Micheál C. Mac Giolla Coda, Dennis Ryan, and John Donoghue led a brief but very interesting discussion on queen ...
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Redds under the bed – Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda (spring 2008)

Many beekeepers use Ted Hooper’s well-known five questions as an aid when inspecting their colonies.  As a reminder, these are: Has the colony enough room? ...
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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.

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