Native Irish Honey Bee Society

Available to Purchase Below

“The Native Irish Honey Bee, Apis mellifera melliferafocuses 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

Theft of bees near Mullingar

Two colonies were stolen recently in the Mullingar area. Five frames of bees were removed from each of two hives and the rest of the …

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NIHBS Facebook page

Don’t forget to check out the NIHBS Facebook page.

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Queen rearing workshops

A series of queen rearing workshops have been planned over the summer starting on 26th May.

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UBKA 69th Annual Conference, Greenmount Campus

Meet NIHBS at the UBKA 69th Annual Conference Friday 8th & Saturday 9th March 2013 Greenmount Campus, Co. Antrim BT41 4PU We will have a …

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Meet NIHBS at ‘Improving your Local Bees’ Conference

‘Improving your Local Bees’ Conference, Run by Banner Beekeepers Association, Co. Clare, Introducing ‘Banner Frostbite Honey show’ Venue: The Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, Co. Clare Date: …

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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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