Welcome to the County Louth Beekeepers Association (LBKA) website

Originally founded in the summer of 1910, our association works on behalf of member beekeepers, providing opportunities to learn the craft and science of beekeeping. Equally important, we provide a social outlet for members to meet with fellow beekeepers - opportunities to share tips and tales. We are blessed to have many excellent beekeepers who are always willing to share their knowledge and experiences.

Our association is committed to supporting the native dark bee, Apis mellifera mellifera.

We are affiliated to our national body, the Federation of Irish Beekeepers Associations (FIBKA). We provide our members with classes and support to attain FIBKA academic and practical certifications.

The Kevin Griffin apiary is located near the M1 roundabout at Junction 16, where members can come and gain practical experience through the beekeeping year.

We also hold regular lectures on all aspects of beekeeping. Members and interested non-members are always welcome to attend.

Upcoming events

  • On Thursday 3rd October Paul Boyle, our local International Honey Judge, will give a talk on Preparing your Entries for a HoneyShow. Since it isn't long to our annual Honey Show, this is a timely explanation of what's needed.
  • On Wednesday, 16th October, we hope to host a guest lecture by Dr. Samuel Ramsey, the person who first identified exactly what Varroa feed on in honeybees. This is an opportunity to hear from someone who is probably the world authority on Varroa. You can get a taste for his lecture here. Once confirmed, we'll update the details here. Note that since we have high costs for this lecture we will have to charge a small entry fee.

News and External Events

The breaking news section has news on:
  • COLOSS
  • An Beachaire
  • FIBKA Congress
  • NUIG Research
  • Fota Honey Show
  • ....

Looking after your bees

This website is a work in progress, if members have interesting articles, stories, pictures, videos etc. that they'd like to submit for inclusion, please get in touch. We would be delighted to publish a blog post from anyone who has something to say. If you would like to share something but you're unsure about any aspect, we'll be delighted to help where we can. You can contact us at:  lbkasec@gmail.com, or through the contact form. ​

Membership Fees

You can pay your 2020 membership whenever you like. Remember that you get insurance, 12 copies of An Beachaire, online copies of BBKA News, access to the association apiary and the learning opportunities there, as well as the monthly lectures, so it's  a real bargain.

The fee for an adult is €80. There are a number of ways to pay:
  • Send a cheque with your details to the secretary (click on CONTACT above).
  • Pay online in our online shop.
  • Bank transfer to our account - IBAN: IE47 AIBK 9324 5028 6971 39 (BIC: AIBKIE2D), but be sure to let the secretary know!
  • The secretary will be happy to accept your membership fee at any lecture.

In Memoriam

As most of you probably have heard, one of our members, Philip McCabe, President of Apimondia, passed away on 20th October.

On Saturday, 6th April, we held a tree-planting ceremony in An Grianán in Termonfeckin, when a tree was planted in his memory.​ There are some photos on the event page.

Despite his busy role with Apimondia, Philip was always generous with his time to all beekeepers, and has spoken many times at our events. The photo below is of him talking to our 2018 beginners' class. His passing is an enormous loss to beekeepers, not only in Louth, but across the globe. 
All lectures start at 8pm in Teagasc, Dundalk (see map). Beginners are welcome and admission is free. See the map below if you need help finding us.