County Louth Beekeepers' Association
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    • Beginners Course
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    • Microscopy Course
  • Contact
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  • Home
  • Honey Show
  • News
    • News Archive
    • Calendar
    • Events
  • About
    • Tom Shaw Article
    • Membership
    • Committee
    • Our Constitution
  • Education
    • Swarms
    • Beginners
    • Beginners Course
    • Intermediates
    • Seniors
    • Third Level Education
    • Reference
    • Beeswax
    • Microscopy Course
  • Contact
  • Online Shop

LBKA

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.

Read more about us here.

Education - Beginners

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As in previous years, we will be running a beginners course, starting with a Meet The Beekeepers event on 14th January at 7:30 pm in Teagasc, Dundalk. This event is to help explain the beginners course and to give you some useful information. You will get an opportunity to chat with more experienced beekeepers who will be only too happy to talk about bees all evening.

The cost of the course is €180 for an individual or €250 for a family (2 adults). Young beekeepers under 18 can join the course for free, but they must be accompanied by an adult. The fee includes annual membership of LBKA and FIBKA. Full details of the course content and dates/times are on our beginners page.

You can sign up in our shop, or by contacting the secretary.

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events
  • Thursday 20th March, 7:30 PM in Teagasc, Dundalk: Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda will give a talk on queen rearing. As many of you know, Eoghan, one of our most experienced members, hails from the illustrious Mac Giolla Coda family—renowned in Ireland and beyond for their unmatched excellence in beekeeping. This promises to be an insightful and enriching evening, filled with invaluable knowledge for beekeeping enthusiasts.
  • Saturday 22nd March, 11:00 AM in the Apiary: The beginners will be introduced to the joys of building frames and hive boxes. While it may seem rather simple, there are many things that can go wrong, making this an important learning experience.
  • Saturday 5th April, 11:00 AM in the Apiary: A continuation of the wax workshops, with a focus on making wax wraps for food. 

Gift Certificates

We're offering gift certificates for sale in the shop for annual membership (individual & family), so if you know someone who might appreciate an unusual present, this might just be for them! 

​We also have gift certificates for the beginners course.

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We have completely renovated what was a semi-derelict building on the M1 apiary site, and cleared and levelled much of the surrounding ground. It was recently painted, and now has functioning ladies' & gents' toilets too, and has even had heating added in the form of a wood-burning stove. The roof has been repaired and it's a wonderful location for lectures (like the one above), although with the lack of electricity for lighting, that will probably be reserved for the summer.

Looking after your bees

  • What to do this month in the apiary ...
  • Winter preparations

The contents of this website by Louth Beekeepers' Association is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Winning Honey

The honey from our Aughnagun Apiary was entered into the London Honey Show in 2023 and it came first in its class. In 2024, it "only" managed  second, itself a terrific achievement. Paul Boyle brought home a second and a third prize, and Jaanike Pukkonen won a third prize too. 

Winning anything in the show is a huge honour and reflects the quality of the honey produced by LBKA members.

Membership Fees

It's now time to pay your membership fees for 2025. There is no increase this year so our fees will remain €80 for an individual and €125 for a family.  However, after 1st January, this will increase by €20, so there's good motivation to pay on time.

Remember that you get liability 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.


​All new members must complete the FIBKA membership form.

Note: The service provider of our online shop charges €5 so the prices are slightly higher. However, the normal prices apply if paying by direct debit or personally.

​Note: Please make sure the secretary has your address, including your Eircode!

Payments

If paying by direct debit, please put your name and ONLY your name on the payment. Don't be the person who puts "MEMBERSHIP" or "SUBSCRIPTION" which makes it impossible for us to guess who has paid!
There are a number of ways to pay:
  • Send a cheque payable to Co. Louth Beekeepers Association with your details to the secretary. If sending cash in the post, please send by registered post. 
  • Direct debit to our account, "Louth Beekeepers Assoc.", IBAN: IE47 AIBK 9324 5028 6971 39 (BIC: AIBKIE2D), but be sure to put your name on the transfer and let the secretary know ! 
  • Pay online in our online shop. 
  • The secretary will be happy to accept your membership fee at any lecture. Lectures are restarting soon.
​Note that the service provider of our online shop charges €5 so the prices are slightly higher. 

Attendees at the NIHBS AGM

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A number of our members attended the NIHBS AGM in Athlone, and three are pictured here - L-R: Paul Boyle, Frankie de Dobbelaere, Michael Palmer, Roger Patterson and Brendan Murray

Our Apiaries

We have five apiaries: one is located outside Newry and our training, queen-rearing and mating apiaries are located near the M1 roundabout at Junction 16, where members can come and gain practical experience through the beekeeping year. We also have another smaller apiary, which is used for breeding bees.

Bee Health

For a change, here's some information on something that's FREE! The Department of Agriculture's Honey bee Health Surveillance Programme provides disease testing for bees for free. If you send samples of bees and/or comb, they can test for Foulbrood, Nosema and more, and all it'll cost you is the price of a stamp. A surprisingly small number of beekeepers avail of this service - the department would like far more samples since this also gives them an idea of what diseases are present in Ireland. The recommendation is to send in samples from all your hives twice a year, and especially whenever you suspect there may be something wrong.

​Send your samples along with this form to the address on the form.

About this website

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: [email protected], or through the contact form. ​

About events

Events usually 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.

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