Irish Bee Conservation Project

Description

The Irish Bee Conservation Project is a charity in Ireland working to conserve native Irish bee species. It grew out of a research project looking at honeybees and the Varroa mite, formed in 2019, and registered as a charity with the Irish Charities Regulator in 2021. Its work rests on four pillars: providing habitat, increasing biodiversity, education and research.

The project designs and installs “bee lodges” that give shelter and breeding space to wild and native bees, starting with its first lodges at Fota Wildlife Park in County Cork in 2019. It has since installed lodges at Lough Gur in County Limerick and elsewhere, and developed a pollinator trail with the Office of Public Works at Fota Gardens. It also advises on and supplies bee lodges for the rewilding of the Dunsany Estate in County Meath.

The project runs educational programmes for schools and communities on bees and their habitats, and holds public events such as a session at the Bealtaine Living Earth Festival. It keeps an apiary of native honeybees, where it carries out breeding and research into tolerance of the Varroa mite. It works with partner organisations including the Irish Heritage Trust and Fota House, Gardens and Arboretum.