Four Masters buzzing after visit from local beekeepers

On June 15, Eddie McGurn and Christopher Feehily, from the Sligo-Leitrim Beekeepers Association visited the Four Masters School in Kinlough.

They won the Pink Lady Competition which enabled beekeepers to visit the school to share their passion for this fascinating creature.

The Beekeepers brought a show hive surrounded by glass so that the honeybees would not escape and create mayhem.

The hive they brought with them contained approximately 40,000 working honeybees. The queen bee was identified by a yellow dot on her back. She was surrounded by a huge number of bees to protect her from intruders.

The queen bee produces up to 1,500 eggs per day. It takes 21 days for a worker bee to hatch from the egg twenty-three days for a drone to emerge and a queen bee takes sixteen days to emerge from the egg.

The Beekeepers showed us frames from the hive which contained. wax coating. The queen lays her eggs in this coating, and they remain there until they hatch.

A queen bee can live for up to 3 years however some have a shorter lifespan. The older working bees within the hive will decide if the queen bee is doing her job successfully or not. If she is not performing up to a high standard, they will kick her out and appoint a new bee.

We learned lots about beehives, the equipment needed and the protective gear worn by the keepers. It really is a labour of love. We had a wonderful morning with Eddie and Christopher. Watch this space there might be buddy beekeepers from fourth class into the future.

Ainle Drogou.