Irish Bee Conservation Project
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] HistoryThe 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] ProjectsThe 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
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