2023
As I type, I am observing our new bees who have come from an oilseed rape crop in Newcastle, Co. Dublin. Our bees are native to Ireland, the Apis Mellifera Mellifera species. In fact, there are over 99 different types of bees in Ireland but only Apis Mellifera Mellifera species produce honey.
Jack McGrath, the accomplished Rugby player, now beekeeper with OpenHive Honey, delivered our bees on the 11th May. Jack installed the new arrivals through a Nuc, this is how bees are transported to a new site. They were gently placed into their new beehive home which was built in-house by one of our apprentice Green Keepers, Brien Gaffney.
We have set up our apiary in a way that is most suitable for our new addition to the flora and fauna at Portmarnock. It is unlikely that our bees will produce any great quantity of honey in year one because it takes time for them to settle well into a new apiary and site. If all goes well we expect a good yield of honey in year two.
