The honey bees are still out here collecting nectar and pollen even though it’s October. I saw one in the garden a few days ago feeding on ivy flowers and managed to get a picture of it. Its pollen baskets were full. Pollen is high in protein and is mainly used to feed the larvae.

We have our own native honey bee here in Ireland called the ‘Black Bee’ as it is generally dark in colour – although the colour can vary. It is a strain of the Dark European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) which is indigenous to Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia, parts of northern and central mainland Europe.

There are several threats to the native honey bees in Ireland the principal one being importation of bees by beekeepers and with it a host of diseases. Of most concern is the varroa mite – this is an exotic parasite which originated in Asia. until the mid nineties, Ireland was one of the few varroa free zones left in the world. It arrived in the country with honey bees that were imported. The tiny little mite has resulted in the nearly complete loss of feral colonies of honey bees that existed in the wild.

The Native Irish Honey Bee society was formed to promote the conservation, study, improvement and re-introduction of Apis mellifera mellifera (Native Irish Honey Bee), throughout the island of Ireland. Find out more about them

http://nihbs.org