Irish Bee Conservation Project
NicknameIBCP
Registration no.20206199
Legal statusRegistered charity
PurposeBee conservation
Region served
Ireland
Websitewww.ibcp.ie

The Irish Bee Conservation Project is a charitable organisation in Ireland that seeks to conserve all native Irish bee species. It has four "pillars of support" in its work: providing habitats, increasing biodiversity, holding education events and performing research into the decline of bee species.[1] Species of bee in Ireland include the honeybee (Apis mellifera), 21 species of bumblebee and 78 species of solitary bee.[2]

History

The Irish Bee Conservation Project (IBCP) grew out of a research project looking at honeybees and the Varroa mite and was formed in 2019 as a not for profit private company limited by guarantee. That same year it designed and installed its first honeybee "lodges" in Fota Wildlife Park, County Cork.[1]

In 2021, the Irish Bee Conservation Project registered as a charity with the Charities Regulator of Ireland.[3]

Projects

The charity developed and installed a pollinator trail, in conjunction with the Office of Public Works, at Fota Gardens.[4] Opened in 2021, the walking trail consists of a series of 12 stations with QR codes which provide links to information about the gardens, bees and other pollinators.[5]

Other projects by the IBCP include the installation of 24 wild bee lodges at Lough Gur, County Limerick. These lodges are designed to replace lost natural habitats.[6] Since 2020, it has been helping Randal Plunkett, 21st Baron of Dunsany with the rewilding of the Dunsany estate in County Meath by advising him and supplying bee lodges.[7]

In 2022, the charity hosted a free educational event at the South East Technological University's Bealtaine Living Earth Festival.[8] The charity also has an apiary holding native honeybees, where it performs breeding and an ongoing eight year research project into varroa mite tolerance, no research results have been published.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "About Us". Irish Bee Conservation Project. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  2. ^ "All-Ireland Pollinator Plan – Bees". National Biodiversity Data Centre. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Charities Register Search". Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  4. ^ Brennan, Martha (20 May 2021). "Why there's such a buzz in Cork about World Bee Day". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  5. ^ "OPW welcomes The Pollinator Trail at Fota House, Arboretum and Gardens to its expanding projects on implementing Biodiversity at its Heritage Sites". Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  6. ^ Jacques, Alan (31 March 2022). "Green Team bring hive of activity to Lough Gur". Limerick Post. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  7. ^ Walsh, Louise (26 December 2020). "How the baron of Dunsany carried out an ambitious rewilding project in Meath". Irish Times. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  8. ^ "SETU's Calmast announces 40 free events as part of the Bealtaine Living Earth Festival 2022". South East Technological University. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Irish Bee Conservation Project". BeeSynergy.org. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.

External links

Conservation of species
Categories