How to set up a catcher hive

Even if you are a bee-god and you think your swarm control technique is perfection personified – always set up a catcher hive because you might be wrong!

It’s also a good idea because when your catchers start to attract attention you can be sure some bees somewhere are having bad thoughts. Sprinke the scouts with a little flour and watch which hive they return to. Continue reading How to set up a catcher hive

How to set up an Apidea

Mating nucs, or ‘mini nucs’ are a great way of getting a new queen laying using the minimum of resources. Should she fail, little is lost but if she does get laying – a spare queen is a great thing to have!

Apideas are far and away the best mating nuc on the market – they cost a little more but are worth every penny for the elegance of the design and the quality of the product.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat and the same can be said for Apideas but here is how I’ve been doing mine for the past 15 years… Continue reading How to set up an Apidea

Native Irish Honey Bee Book

This book is a collaborative work with contributions from expert beekeepers and scientists throughout Ireland.

Native Irish Honey Bee Book
Native Irish Honey Bee Book

It contains everything you need to know about the Native Irish Honey Bee – from evolution to genetics and into the future with conservation and ‘how to’ sections from commercial beekeepers.

Includes a practical section with step by step instructions on queen rearing and bee-breeding techniques.

Click here to re-watch the book launch

Click here to buy the Native Irish Honey Bee Book

How to make mead from beeswax cappings

Mead is a honey-based alcoholic beverage with a very long and colourful history. The Vikings were big into mead, as were the Druids, the Celts, the Saxons and, earlier still, the Neolithic/Iron age  Beaker people. The Vikings drank it out of bull horns as did the Druids, Celts and Saxons. While the Beaker people drank it out of… well… beakers. Continue reading How to make mead from beeswax cappings

Information For Humans Beeing