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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.

Bees for Beginners

We plan on making sure we have enough bees for all beginners this year. Please do not go out and purchase bees from another source without asking us whether they might be appropriate.
It appears that some beginners have sourced bees which are likely to be a cross between Irish Black Bees and Buckfast. This will have an dreadful impact on the bees in Louth - these bees will become very cross in a couple of generations and if they hybridise with other unsuspecting beekeepers' bees, they too will become vicious.
​In Louth we have worked hard to ensure that the bees here are pure Irish Black Bees, both to preserve a critical natural resource and to prevent nasty hybrids, and doing something like this can undo all this hard work. So before rushing out to buy bees, please ask to ensure they're the right bees.

Upcoming events

  • The Preliminary Exam is on Saturday, 18th May. To ensure that people have an opportunity to handle bees and see the various parts and occupants of the hive, we will have a session in the Association Apiary (kn own as the Kevin Griffin Apiary) on Thursday evening at 7pm.  Some of our experienced beekeepers will be on hand to help you in any way they can.  Also, remember to look through your notes and, in particular, the quizzes from the lectures.
  • The Improvers' Course with Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda is continuing with practical sessions at Eoghan's Richardstown Apiary commencing on Tuesday 30th April, 2019 and the following 7 Tuesdays (weather permitting), i.e. 8 sessions in all. ​
  • On Thursday 23rd May at 8pm, Simon Rees will give a talk on "Honeybee orientation and communication". Simon is a CFL and talks on more unusual subjects so this promises to be very interesting.

News and External Events

  • The COLOSS survey is now active. It's important that you complete this international survey so that we can find out how many losses have occurred in Ireland. You can fill in the form in this month's An Beachaire, or online here. Note that the deadline is 1st June.
  • You have probably been aware that An Beachaire is available in an online version on the FIBKA web site. Now the site also has back issues of the UK BBKA News online, so there's plenty to read.
  • FIBKA held an EGM on 30th March where it was decided to restructure as a CLG rather than an unstructured federation. This is the first step to recreating FIBKA as an organisation suitable for the 21st century. ​

Membership Fees

Membership is way, way, way overdue! If you have not paid, you are no longer covered by insurance and you have not received An Beachaire.

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.
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. ​

Looking after your bees