This article is from page 14 of the 2013-07-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
TO BEE or not to bee – that is literally the question facing Clare County Council as it considers designating Ireland’s first Honey Bee Sanctuary in the Burren.
The native Irish Black Bee is under threat and non-profit Banner Bee Keepers are supporting the Native Irish Bee Society to preserve the bee natural to the area.
The society has now proposed that the Burren be designated a sanctuary for the endangered bee.
There are several threats to the native honeybees in Ireland. The gene pool has been drastically reduced by the varroa mite – an exotic parasite which originated in Asia.
Up until the mid-nineties, Ireland was one of the few varroa free zones left in the world. It arrived in the country with imported honeybees. The tiny little mite has resulted in the near eradication of feral colonies of honeybees that existed in the wild from time immemorial.
“Importation of honey bees is a practice which beekeeping bodies and most beekeepers in Ireland do not condone, as many more bee pests and diseases could enter Ireland in a similar way in the future,” explained Frank Considine of Banner Bee Keepers.
“There has been an upsurge in interest in honey bees in the last few years and some people are tempted to import honey bees. This can have dire consequences for the native bees which can cross breed with them and become aggressive,” he said.
“This in the long term could have a devastating effect on the sustainability of the native honey bee in Ireland. Some parts of Ireland have larger populations of pure native bees than others. It is hoped in the future, that these localities will become conservation areas for this endangered sub species of European honey bee.”
Supporting the need for a bee sanctuary, Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) said this is a necessary project but it will be quite difficult to develop, as it will need to include a number of bodies including the council, the OPW, and the National Park and Wildlife.