The Kildare beekeepers buzzing away in the background

Amongst the hustle and bustle of everyday life and its relentless march forward there is an area of Athy that quite literally just buzzes away about its business. And that is what South Kildare Beekeeping Association’s (SKBA) Gerry Walsh loves about the Kilkenny-coloured insects.

“In this fast-paced world, if you haven’t got your zen head on when you go to visit your bees, they will remind you that you have to be calm and gentle. They slow you down a little bit,” Gerry said.

“I love the way these little creatures can carry on and do their own thing, with a little bit of help from ourselves. We’re in trouble without them as Albert Einstein said about the importance of our pollinators.”

The quote often attributed to the lauded theoretical physicist is “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.” Whether we would perish so soon after the disappearance of the humble bee or not they undoubtedly play a vital role in our ecosystem.

Gerry’s journey into the wonderful world of beekeeping began a couple of years ago alongside his brother-in-law who had kept bees.

“I was watching him inspecting his bees, I was intrigued and always wanted him to move over and let me have a look. He was courteous but eventually he said ‘go off and do a course and come back to me’.”

That course was the SKBA’s beginners beekeeping course and the start of Gerry’s journey with bees and the association of which he now operates as a member and public relations officer. I am not sure there could be a more ringing endorsement of an introductory course than that.

Now fully immersed into the lifestyle, Gerry has learned the importance of your temperament and how the winged insects need your care and attention.

He said, “You must check your bees, once a week, every week for at least an hour. If you’re stressed, you’re in a hurry or rushing. The bees will remind you that you work on their time. If you haven’t got that hour, you shouldn’t be keeping bees. You just don’t know what they are going to have for you when you lift off the lid of their hive.”

Having been thrust into this wonderful world, Gerry took the reins for teaching the next generation of beekeepers by overseeing the beginner’s course that got him through the door. Gerry has since handed over that responsibility to a capable colleague for the 2023 beginners course, which has already begun. 

“We are two weeks into this year’s course. The course is made up of three different parts, the lecturing bit that you learn in the classroom. Then when the weather is right, we bring the beginners out to the club’s bees. This is important because if you wanted to get started in beekeeping it would be very expensive. We are giving people a taste to see if this is for them. They can visit the bees and take what they have learnt and some will discover that maybe this isn’t for them,” Gerry explained.

“The third part of the course is the extraction and that is when we take the honey from the club’s bees. During the year, all the beginners can also come to the likes of the talks that we are doing, that will be relevant around the time of year that it is. We would do a talk at the end of the year about extraction and then at the start of the year about spring build-up.”

This year’s course is closed as it has already commenced but SKBA are already taking names for their 2024 course and you can find more information on their website https://southkildarebeekeepers.org/.

“Not all the beginners have come to do the course because they want to be beekeepers, they might be gardeners or with an interest in biodiversity and we love that. We welcome all sorts of people and interests to join the club,” Gerry said.

County Kildare has recently been acknowledged as a special area of conservation for the native Irish honey bee. Thanks to the incredible work of the SKBA and their other Kildare counterparts.

“Along with our friends the North Kildare beekeepers, Rathangan beekeeping and the national organisation, the Native Irish Honey Bee Society. We have voluntarily declared county Kildare as a special area of conservation for the Irish honey bee.That has been picked up and backed by Kildare County Council,” Gerry said.

The SKBA’s activism has not stopped there as they have voiced their displeasure with the destruction of hedgerows, a practice that is having a detrimental impact on biodiversity.

If you are disappointed about missing the deadline for 2023 beginners beekeeping course, the SKBA are running a talk at their monthly meeting by their past chairman Derek Hanley and that will be on biodiversity and solitary bees on March 1. beyond that, the SKBA meet @ 7.30pm on the first Wednesday of most months in Athy Church of Ireland Centre, Janeville, Athy, Co Kildare (EirCode R14HX26).