Native Irish bees

ezra_ · 26-03-2017 02:23PM #1

I came across a link to the native Irish bee society.

It had never even struck me that the bees we see around the place weren't original. What is the difference between native irish and others? Why don't more people have the native version?

Apiarist · 27-03-2017 02:15PM

Native Irish bees are European dark bees (Apis mellifera mellifera), which were once common in Europe. They are native to Ireland in a sense that they had thousands of years to adapt to the specific local conditions (after the end of the last ice age). However, in most of Europe the dark bee is no longer present as it has become mixed with other strains of bees. Mixed strains are consequences of breeding programs to make bees more productive or more manageable by crossing different sub-species of bees.

As far as I know, hobbyist bee-keepers in Ireland prefer to breed dark bees, but it is legal to import bees from UK/EU (notably the Buckfast variety).

ezra_ · 27-03-2017 03:58PM

Thanks.

bpmurray · 27-03-2017 09:45PM

Just a comment on importing: that's a good way to help wipe out bees in Ireland. The Varroa mite came in that way and presumably the Small Hive Beetle will arrive that way too. Instead get them from a good breeder in Ireland.

There are plenty of breeders of native black bees, and there's a handful of folk who do quality Buckfasts so there's no reason to go abroad.

Effects · 28-03-2017 09:01AM

bpmurray wrote: »

There are plenty of breeders of native black bees.

Is there though? There's always massive demand for overwintered nucs and some people seem think there isn't enough.
Then there's also a huge amount of people who think a nuc of bees should only cost them in or around €30.

thelord · 28-03-2017 07:41PM

Imagine Nucs for 30 euro lol best price I found last year was 170 euro

Native Irish bees

Welcome!

Comments

Welcome!