Experienced Beekeeper

Are you an Experienced Beekeeper?

It is generally stated that it takes 4 -5 years before a beekeeper has experienced most if not all that can happen in the course of a beekeeping year. Hard lessons are learned in those formative years and mini-battles are won and lost along the way.

The more hives you manage, the more problems you need to solve, and the steeper is the learning curve. There is also an element of understanding between the beekeeper and his or her bees as several generations of queens and hives are produced and maintained by the same person. However experienced you may be, there is always more to learn, new techniques to be tried out and new approaches to be experimented with. Medications are constantly changing as new understanding of diseases are unveiled.

We have survived the storm of Varroa mites. Now we are ever vigilant waiting for the first arrival of the Asian Hornet and the Small Hive Beetle, which will bring new challenges in their wake.

We need to support the latest research initiatives and to implement the findings, plus educate the beginners and novices, who represent the future of beekeeping in Ireland.

It is incumbent on all experienced beekeepers to foster new ideas, support new beekeepers and adopt new approaches at a time when mass species extinctions of plants and animals are threatening the future survival of the food chain on which we all ultimately depend. Your voice is important in these uncertain times.

Russborough House Apiary displaying section honey

The North Kildare Beekeepers Association run many open days each year. We are committed to promoting the keeping of bees both as a hobby and also commercially. Many of our members give freely of their free time to spread the message and encourage others to become beekeepers.

The NKBKA commitment to biodiversity maintenance and the support of the National Pollinator’s plan can be seen in our dealings with the public at all levels from School visits to supporting Businesses in their promotion of sustainable environmental practices.

We see the bees as bioindicators of the health of the environment and honey as proof of sustainable production processes.

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Did You Know ?

Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis. The Varroa mite can only reproduce in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by feeding on its fat bodies. These fat bodies are essential for the long-term survival of the winter bees, who normally live for several months.

Did You Know ?

The varroa mite life cycle is dependent on the honey bee life cycle. The mites sneak into the open cell containing the bee larva and once it is capped the mite reproduces while feeding on the cocooned larva. When the larva hatches the mites have produced their own female offspring who are ready to infest another cell.
Varroa Mites: A Danger to Bees 360° Video

Did You Know ?

Among the many threats to honey bee colonies around the world, one stands alone: the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor. For decades, researchers assumed that varroa mites feed on blood, like many of their mite and tick cousins. But new research suggests that varroa mites have a voracious appetite for a honey bee organ called the fat body, which serves many of the same vital functions carried out by the human liver.
​ScienceDaily Article January 2019

Did You Know ?

One of the serious problems caused by Varroa is the transmission of viruses to honey bees which cause deadly diseases. Nearly twenty honey bee viruses have been discovered and the majority of them have an association with Varroa mites. Therefore controlling Varroa populations in a hive will often control the associated viruses and finding symptoms of the viral diseases is indicative of a Varroa epidemic in the colony.