02.05.2022

Our first apiary inspection took place today on may 2nd. Our first team consisted of 6 members... Bernie, Denise, Uli, Pat, Denis and Conor. All went well. It was a nice enough day - dry and mild with plenty of nectar and pollen being brought in. The bees behaved themselves and
5 Hives were inspected. All hives had laying queens and varied in strength. The queens were spotted in 3 hives while one was marked. 2 hives in particular looked very strong and should be bustling in another few weeks when the brood hatches. There was alot of varroa considering the hives were treated in the autumn and some signs of Deformed Wing Virus. There was no sign of swarming. On the last hive the team made an apidea with a section of comb containing eggs and a few cups of bees.
Tea and Coffee was supplied by Uli out of the boot of his car - many thanks.
Roll on the next inspection. Its great to be meeting up again!

We are pleased to present our 2022 Calendar, which is the results of a seasonal photo competition amongst our members.

Every month you discover a few fascinating facts about the honeybees. You learn to know, if bees can recognise colours, if they sleep and you find out how many flowers they need to visits to collect a pound of honey. You will see many pictures with bees carrying pollen sacks on their legs. Why pollen bags are the “The Bees Knees”.

The calendar is for beekeepers, their families and all friends of the honeybee. We also will give free copies to local schools and beekeeping beginners. This is happily done in line with our objective to raise public awareness on the importance of bees and beekeeping to the environment.

If you are interested please contact the club on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on our whatsapp group.

It is the year 2020. It is a dark and cold February night. The crowds are pouring into the warm and cosy country bar in Beaufort. It is just like hundreds of foragers coming back from their quest of finding the best source of food. There is a pleasant and exciting atmosphere in the room as everybody is eager to see what will happen on this special night.

Sometime later only a few workers remain in the room of the over seventy beekeepers present that night. The buzz and laughter of the night are still in the air. What a night it was!

What happened?

On the 6th of February 2020 the Beaufort Beekeepers’ Association hosted the 1st Kerry Beekeepers’ Gathering. The evening with the motto “Show and Tell” was open to all Kerry Beekeeper Associations.

There were also guests and speakers from our friends in Dunmanway, Co. Cork. The overall aim was to bring like-minded people together and talk about practical knowledge and beekeeping techniques. It was a meeting prepared by beekeepers for beekeepers. Nothing fancy just our very own association members sharing their enormous knowledge.

The night itself and the feedback was so tremendous that I thought it was worth while writing about that night. If you want to know more and see some pictures just visit our website.

Let me tell you that this article is not only about our favourite hobby. I am not writing about the complexity of the world of bees, a brood and a half or the best varroa treatment. I am writing about the social importance of beekeeper associations. I write about what you can achieve with a great committee and amazing members and I hope you are inspired to make a change in your association.

Beaufort Beekeepers are celebrating world bee day today.

On the lead up to world bee day many of our members have submitted videos and pics from their apairies. Its great to see everybody busy with their hives and preparing for what hopefully will be an active season. Thanks to everybody!

Beekeeping has always been an important activity in Beaufort, Co. Kerry and has been practiced by people in the area for hundreds of years.

The Beaufort Beekeepers are a friendly bunch of people who are interested in bees and beekeeping and of course, everything associated with it, from using the wax and propolis, to producing honey and helping to conserve our native black honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera).

We are an association of hobbyist and semi-commercial beekeepers founded in 2011 by a small group and now our membership numbers stands at approx. 65. We don’t limit ourselves to beekeepers from Beaufort as we have members coming to us from as far south as Waterville, from Tralee to the north and Gneeveguilla in the east!

This short video about beekeeping has been developed in conjunction with students of the Kerry ETB (Education Training Board) and the Beaufort Beekeepers Association. The video features 2 of our founding members (Dan and Tuddy) and the chairperson (Ulrich) and reflects our mindset at the Beaufort Beekeepers - being focused on natural beekeeping, preserving the craft and the honeybee! Enjoy the video and contact us, if you have any queries or want to join a vibrant honey bee association in Co. Kerry. Finally, we thank Seamus and Peter for their work and time invested in this educating video clip. It was a pleasure working with you in the apiary. You are pure professionals.