ApisProtect & OpenHive

We are really excited to be working with ApisProtect this year. They recently launched a hobbyist version of their bee monitoring technology here in Ireland and we’ve bought a number of them for some of our apiaries. This sort of technology is really interesting for us and we’re very much looking forward to getting it in our hands and in turn, into our hives!

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Who or what is ApisProtect?

ApisProtect is inspired by proven research from academia. In 2013 Fiona Edwards Murphy began her doctoral research into the application of sensors and networking in honey bee hives. The project received international recognition, including at least 8 academic publications, awards from the Irish Research Council, the IEEE, IBM, The Irish Laboratory Awards, and Google, as well as extensive international media attention. Most recently awarded the Sodexo WMB Female Newcomer Award 2018.

Following this project, ApisProtect has been formed, moving the use of technology in beehives into the commercial sphere, to provide insight for beekeepers to prevent losses and increase productivity. The team behind ApisProtect has the diverse background required to succeed in this space, including decades of engineering, scientific, beekeeping, and commercial experience.

If you’d like to learn more about them you can watch their CEO Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy on the BBC World News documentary Follow The Food here: https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-farms-being-run-from-space/

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Mother's Day Gift Packs

We are very excited to launch our luxury Mother’s Day Gift Pack. Looking for something unique and thoughtful for someone special? Look no further! In our gift pack you will find:

  • A jar of raw Irish OpenHive honey

  • A hand-rolled Irish beeswax candle

  • A bespoke Naomi Good Ceramics candle holder

  • A packet of OpenHive native Irish seed bombs

  • Two bars of Brona artisan Irish chocolate

  • A bunch of dried lavender flowers

You can find the pack here: https://www.openhive.ie/shop

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Rare Australian bee found after 98 years…

An Australian bee that hasn’t been in almost 100 years has been found in the rainforests of eastern Australia according to an article in IFL Science. The Pharohylaeus lactiferus is the only Australian member of a genus usually found in New Guinea. The bees hasn’t bee seen since the mid 1920s until a university student called James Dorey from Flinders University spotted it whilst studying for a Phd.

According to Dory the bee is “part of a group called the masked bees that are relatively hairless and have quite remarkable facial markings,”. This makes them easy to distinguish from other bees, and P. lactiferus is “unusually big and thick, maybe with two ccs, so it can be told apart from most other masked bees”.

Here’s hoping for more exciting discoveries just like this in future.

Read the full article here.

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OpenHive on the Ryan Tubridy Show!

Last Tuesday we were absolutely delighted to have a few minutes to talk to Ryan Tubridy about beekeeping, how OpenHive began and what our aims are on his radio show. An engaging and funny host, Ryan spoke to Mark about how he has been since the last time he was on the show (summer of 2019) before moving on to discuss beekeeping as a hobby, OpenHive as a company and how the public can help the native Irish bee in future. You can listen to the piece below.

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Bees and snow

Last week we had some really cold weather hit Ireland and our hives in Wicklow, just south of Dublin, were snowed in, as you can see in the below picture. We visit the apiary to check in after the storm and clear the landing boards, just to give them a little hand.

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Bees can cope well during a cold spell like this (as long as it doesn’t last for too long!) as they regulate the temperature within the hive through their winter cluster. The worker bees actively generate heat by shivering - vibrating their flight muscles but keeping their wings still, which raises their body temperatures. With thousands of bees constantly shivering, the temperature at the centre of the cluster warms up to about 35° C. When the workers on the outer edge of the cluster get cold, they push to the centre of the group, and other bees take a turn shielding the group from the winter weather.

Cocktail Recipe!

It’s a cold, windy and grey Monday out there. We’re looking for something to cheer ourselves and our readers up and we stumbled across this lovely recipe over on the Powers whiskey website. Going to give it a go tonight and give those Monday blues the nudge.

Ingredients

  1. 2 parts GOLD LABEL.

  2. ½ part honey syrup (equal parts OpenHive honey and water)

  3. 6 parts sparkling water.

  4. Squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

  5. Lemon peel to garnish.

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Method

  1. In a Collins glass filled with ice.

  2. Combine POWERS, lemon juice and sparkling water.

  3. Stir to combine and serve with a lemon peel.

Jack McGrath joins the team at OpenHive!

We are very excited to announce the Ulster & Ireland international prop Jack McGrath has joined our team. Jack has been fascinated by bees for a long time now and used the lockdown to tackle bee conservation. 

As a team player, I’m fascinated by how tens of thousands of bees can in one hive can work together as one productive unit. Humans the world over were all in lockdown, but nature, the bees, they just carried on as if nothing was happening.

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As part of his training to become a beekeeper with OpenHive, McGrath learned that the native Irish honeybee is a species under threat. So, he got his own hives and is committed to conserving this threatened species. He has become an advocate for the Irish honeybee and a spokesperson for OpenHive honey. OpenHive operates a hive sponsorship programme through which individuals and corporates can easily contribute to a vital conservation programme for Irish Honeybees. 

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“These little guys need our help to survive. Let’s put our shoulders to it and get them over the line .” 

Book Recommendation: The HoneyBee by Celia Davis

The below two books are two of the best books we have come across in terms of learning about bees. They are exceptionally thorough, up to date and very well presented. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in a more in depth look at the world of the honey bee and everything around it. We bought purs from Beecraft but they are available elsewhere as well. Happy reading!

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Bee Documentary: The Pollinators

Over the Christmas break we got to catch up on some of the more relaxing aspects of beekeeping - learning about bees for fun. A film about the migratory beekeepers of the United States called The Pollinators was one such example. It tells the tale of the huge business of pollinating fruit, vegetable and other foods in the US and the role that bees have to play in it. The award-winning film is a very interesting, beautifully filmed look at a very different type of beekeeping. More info on the website here: https://www.thepollinators.net.

NOW AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL: https://geni.us/ThePollinatorsThe Pollinators is a cinematic journey around the United States following migratory beekeepers and th...

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Heat up your Honey

Here’s a very simple way to add some heat and flavour to your honey. All you need are some chili pepers, some honey and a little patience. Delicious on pizza and with lots of other dishes. Enjoy!

  • Step 1: Chop up chili peppers of your choice - we used 5 habaneros & 5 birds eye

  • Step 2: Heat up about two jars of raw Irish honey - we used OpenHive, obviously!

  • Step 3: Add all of the above to a pot and simmer gently on a medium heat for 5 minutes

  • Step 4: Remove from heat and let it cool

  • Step 5: Strain through a sieve and put into a jar

  • Step 6: Store in an airtight container in your fridge and use liberally!

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Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt

We recently came across a fascinating article about the importance of bees and beekeeping in Ancient Egypt that we thought we’d share here.

It cannot be disputed that the Ancient Egyptians attached great religious and spiritual significance to the honey bee. Bees were associated with royalty in Egypt; indeed, as early as 3500 BC, the bee was the symbol of the King of Lower Egypt! (The symbol of the King of Upper Egypt was a reed). There are many examples of bee hieroglyphs to be found in the records, as well as hieroglyphs for honey and beekeeper.

Article Link

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Happy Christmas and Happy New Year

We are signing off until 2021. We hope you all have a lovely Christmas break and get a chance to spend some time recharging before the year ahead. We are hoping for a more hopeful, happy and safe start to the new year. Take care and see you on the other side!

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Beekeeping & Sustainable Development Goals

Apimondia or the International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations promotes scientific, ecological, social and economic apicultural development in all countries and the cooperation of beekeepers` associations, scientific bodies and of individuals involved in apiculture worldwide. We came across a report of theirs recently that shows the positive impact of beekeeping on a wider scale. Well worth a read through.

Beekeeping is an activity that can have an impact on all the 17 SDGs in consideration of the possibility it offers to improve food production systems from the most subsistence production methods to the highly developed technological advanced systems. It can do so without creating pollution or waste. It has a positive impact on biodiversity. Beekeeping brings people together and Apimondia assists in the global dissemination of knowledge about all 17 goals.

Read the full report here.

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Bee-Friendly Garden tips

We recently came across a very thorough article with lots of ideas and tips for planning your garden with bees (and other pollinators) in mind. From colour and variety to providing a water supply or even having a skep, there is a lot in this well informed article by Planted Well.

Check it out here.

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Zoom Lecture with Grace McCormack

Last week we tuned in to a fascinating Zoom lecture from Grace McCormack of NUI Galway called “Origins and diversity of Irish honey bees”. It was kindly hosted by the Tribes Beekeepers Association in Galway. The talk was full of interesting information about everything from Darwinian Evolution and Genetics through to the history of beekeeping in Ireland and the current status of the native black Irish bee. Hopefully the slides from the talk will go online - if we get a link we will share it here.

Here is a screenshot of a map of the AMM bee’s decline that we found particularly interesting.

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Honey to Nursing Homes

Last month we sent 10 jars of honey to 10 people living in nursing homes around the country as part of a competition. We were delighted to brighten up a day or two for various friends and relatives of those who entered and hope that the honey is being enjoyed by all!

More info here.

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98 species of bee in Ireland

Did you know that there are 98 different species of bee in Ireland? The honeybee counts as one and then there are 97 wild bee species including 20 bumblebee species and 77 solitary bee species. A common assumption is that honeybees are under threat - in fact they are thriving. It is the wild bees that are the worry.

In Ireland we have three very rare bumblebees that are almost extinct - the Shrill carder bee, the Great yellow bumblebee and the Red shanked carder bee. For these bees to survive we need to preserve their habitats, increase their food supply and lessen the amount of chemicals used in nature.

More information on the Biodiversity Ireland website here.

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Image from “Art by Tereska”