Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the ancient art of encouraging the ordinary honeybee to part with a portion of their winter stores for the pleasure of mankind.

Oral tradition tells us that beekeeping has a long tradition in the parish of Bonane. Traditionally the bees were kept in a "skep", which was usually made of braided straw and quiet often the method of honey retrieval would involve the killing off of the swarm and the honeycomb, brood and all would end up on the kitchen table. While this was a highly nutritious mixture it would not be acceptable fare for the palate of today.

In 1851 an American by the name Langstroth revolutionalised beekeeping by producing a hive that incorporated “beespace”. This 6mm space allowed the bees to move freely about the hive without filling the space with wax or propolis. A hive was produced which used frames that were easily removable and allowed the beekeeper to remove quantities of honey without killing off the bees.

The new hives were introduced into Bonane with both methods of beekeeping existing side by side for a number of years. Many families in the parish kept a number of hives with the more industrious making candles from the wax produced by the hive.

In 1904 a disease, which was fatal to bees was first noted in the Isle of Wight, it spread from year to year until such time as it had almost wiped out all the bees on the island. By 1907 it had firmly established itself in England and continued to spread slowly throughout the island. There was no cure for what had now become known as the Isle of Wight disease.

By the end of the 1930’s the disease had ravaged the population of bees in the parish of Bonane. Many home cures were tried but none were effective. In a few short years the husks of empty hives was the only evidence of a once thriving population of bees in Bonane. Nature came to the rescue and a natural resistance to the disease became evident in the native population of bees. Some beekeepers imported an “Italian strain” of honeybee, which also had a resistance to the Isle of Wight disease. The new strain of honeybee could be differentiated from the native brown bee by the strong yellow stripes across their abdomen. The two types of bee interbred and today the bee population of Bonane have a strong gene pool.

During the 1940’s beekeeping recovered in popularity but unfortunately by the late 1950’s and early 1960’s beekeeping was once again in decline. Following some research it appears that the following families were involved in beekeeping in those decades.

Sean Healy	Eirneen
Mike O’ Shea	Droumagorteen
John Joe O’ Connor	Droumagorteen
Denis O’ Leary	Droumagorteen
Paddy O’ Sullivan	Droumagorteen
Michael Daly	Killabonane
Brendan O’ Sullivan	Milleens
Joe O’ Sullivan	Milleens
Florry McCarthy	Baureragh
Patrick Hegarty	Milleens
Eugene O’ Sullivan	Milleens

In the 1970’s and 1980’s the decline continued and we find two families continuing the ancient art of beekeeping in Bonane.

Brendan & Rita O’ Sullivan	Milleens
Pat & Tina O’ Sullivan	Releigh

Beekeeping recovered significantly in 1997 when a group of interested people under the leadership of the community council availed of leader funding to start a beekeepers group. The following are the new practitioners of beekeeping in the parish.

Pat O’ Sullivan	Killabonane
Carrie McCarthy	Tulloha
Hilde Rischbode	Baureragh
Dolly Reilly	Garrymore
Patricia O’ Sullivan	Esk
Mary & Denis O’ Shea	Esk
Margaret Hallissey	Milleens
John Joe O’ Brien	Gerah
Mairead Cronin	Gurranes

 While the fortunes of beekeeping have waxed and waned over the last century the high quality of the honey produced in Bonane has been the one constant. Honey is a complex organic substance arising from natural sources and varying in small but significant degrees from flora to flora, county to county and soil to soil. Our unique climate and variety of wildflowers enable the bees to produce the finest quality honey.