Irish Bee Conservation Project
# 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. Species of bee in Ireland include the honeybee (Apis mellifera), 21 species of bumblebee and 78 species of solitary bee.

## 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.

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

## Projects

The charity developed and installed a pollinator trail, in conjunction with the Office of Public Works, at Fota Gardens. 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.

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. 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.

In 2022, the charity hosted a free educational event at the South East Technological University's Bealtaine Living Earth Festival. 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.

