Minutes of the meeting
(thanks to Jon, copy of post on SBAi)
The gathering in Portlaoise on Sunday 25th November turned out to be a momentous occasion. It was the inaugural meeting of a society which was to be named on the day - ‘The Native Irish Honey Bee Society (Apis mellifera mellifera)'. The room was overflowing with people. This very much demonstrated the general desire for its establishment. The number in attendance was just a fraction of those around the country interested in the formation of this organisation.
Without taking away from the important developments and decisions which were made at the meeting, the whole area of what name would be givern to the new organisation, caused a bit of controversy. Suggestions from the floor consisted of variations of the final name. After much discussion and a bit of consternation, it came to a vote and the final name was decided upon.
The Acting Chairperson, Pat Deasy and Acting Secretary Colette O'Connell were elected Honorary Chairperson and Honorary Secretary respectively. They did an excellent job for the rest of the day, which would prove to be both interesting and informative with plenty of contributions from the floor. Sean Ó Fiannachta was elected Honorary Treasurer and Aoife Nic Giolla Coda was elected Honorary PRO.
The aims and objectives were decided upon and finalised:
Aims
To promote the conservation, study, improvement and reintroduction of Apis mellifera mellifera, (Native Irish Honey Bee), throughout the island of Ireland.
To establish areas of conservation throughout the island for the Native Irish Honey Bee.
To promote the formation of Bee Improvement groups.
To provide education on bee improvement and to increase public awareness of the values of the Native Irish Honey Bee.
To act in an advisory capacity to groups and individuals who wish to promote the Native Irish Honey Bee.
To co-operate with other bee-keeping organisations with similar aims.
To seek the help of the scientific community and other stakeholders in achieving our aims and objectives.
Objectives
- To help establish areas of conservation throughout the island to preserve the Native Irish Honey Bee.
- To liaise with bee-keepers with a view to establishing bee improvement groups.
- To advise and encourage bee-keepers to promote our aims and objectives.
- To establish a website which promotes our aims and objectives with links to organisations promoting similar aims and objectives
- Where possible to provide information, leaflets, press releases etc.
- To provide information as to where local improvement groups are established.
- To provide information about ongoing events.
A programme for 2013, was established which includes, bee improvement workshops, queen rearing, provision of nuclei, recruitment of members, vigilance of imports into areas particularly possible conservation areas and publicity.
A Steering Committee was elected with representatives from each province. There was no shortage of nominations put forward and in some provinces the amount of committee positions was extended four and five. The committee consists of the following:
Ulster: Jonathan Getty, David Dumican, William Blakely
Connaught: Pat Finnegan, Mary Hyland, Gerard Coyne, Sean Osborne
Munster: Jerry Cronin, Liam Rice, Frank Considine, Micheál Mac Giolla Coda, PJ Curran
Leinster: Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda, John Summerville, Kieth Pierce, John Morgan
The committee would urge those interested, to join - whether they are a member of a local bee breeding group, an individual beekeeper interested in breeding or just someone with an interest in conservation of Apis mellifera mellifera. There is power in numbers and it is essential that these numbers demonstrate their support for the various local strains of the Native Irish Honey Bee, (Apis mellifera mellifera) which is under threat and always will be under threat due to potential importations from around the world. This is also the position in a few other regions in Europe which still retain their owns strains of Apis mellifera mellifera. The society is open to all - whether they are a member of a beekeeping association or not. It is also an All-Ireland society - open to beekeepers from Northern Ireland. The society also hopes to form a good relationship with other national and international beekeeping organisations including FIBKA, UBKA, BIBBA, and SICAMM.
From morphometry results carried out by Galtee Bee Breeding Group of over 1000 representative samples taken from nearly every county in Ireland, it has been proven that there are large populations of the Native Irish Honey Bee throughout the island of Ireland. Through the DNA samples carried out by Copenhagen University in 2000, it has been proven that we have a variety of strains of the Native Irish Honey Bee. Preserving these various strains throughout the country is of the utmost importance for the sake of future generations. We know that their traits are adapted to our environment and essential for the longterm sustainability of the honey bee in Ireland. To lose these traits in the future due to being overwhelmed by imported strains of honey bee would be devastating. Through the formation of this society, another step has been taken in its conservation and improvement. Membership is 20 euro for the year. If you wish to join, contact the secretary Colette O' Connell, Email:
[email protected]
