Clew Bay Honey’s First Birthday

Message from Timothy Stevens beekeeper to among many others the Polranny Pirates. ‘Hi everyone. Sorry for such infrequent posts. Things tend to get a bit hectic in the summer with me. So here is a quick update no photos I’m afraid as I scratched the lens on the camera I use. I hope to get that sorted out soon and start getting more pics up. I celebrated my 1st year in business on the 20th of June. The year has truly flown for me. To think last year I was registering for tax and getting my company name sorted. The list of what has been achieved from then to now is massive. I started this with 19 hives and now have over 35 full hives and close to 40 nucs(half hives). I am well on line with meeting and surpassing my own goals for this year for growth. All I need now is 3 good weeks weather in July (a big ask I know) and I will be able to get honey into a few more shops.’ Congratulations to Timothy and hopefully the Polranny Pirate Bees will surpass themselves in supplying Clew Bay Honey! I’m going to Amsterdam now and I’ll be away for a few months. Most likely it will be very quiet on the blog for a while. The bees will be busy making honey and I shall miss all the fun.

Bellagorick

Once upon a time Ireland went for self-suffiency. That’s how it came about that the first and only electric power-plant running on turf was build on the massive bogs of the North Mayo plane. One could see it from miles around. A village with a post office, a pub, a shop and several houses had been build around the plant. You don’t see them in the drawing because they are in the valley where the river runs through that provided the power station with cooling water. It was a welcome stop in the middle of the nothingness of the immense bog. Was it a venerated landmark or an eyesore? Was is progress or folly? To me it was all of the above. But then Ireland became part of the big global economy and the use of turf as fuel was laughed at: too expensive, too labour intensive. Oil now, that was the thing. The drawing was made during the hot summer of 1983. I remember sitting by the side of the road, sketching at full speed being pestered by horseflies. One day they tore down the power station. A big bang and it crumbled. By then the post office was closed, followed by the shop and the pub. Most of the village stands empty. There is a wind-power park to the north of Bellagorick now because the already existing electric grid is at hand. Why this post on a blog about bees? Timothy’s colleague Jude from the Westport Beekeepers Association gave the excuse. He keeps a lot of hives up that way. Lovely heather honey no doubt.

Meanwhile back in Achill

Yesterday Timothy swung by accompanied by Jude a colleague from the Westport Beekeepers Association. They had been replacing an aggressive colony at Achill Secret Garden with a more docile one. The hive now gets a new residence in Glenhest far from the madding crowd. Timothy also had installed a starter hive at Sheila McHugh in BullsMouth (another colleague of mine from the Achill Writers Group). He has now four and possibly five addresses in Achill of which three on Achill. That means that we will get our own ‘run’ in the future. Now Timothy gets in later and later because he has so much to do before Achill. Yesterday it was nine at night. The bees were grumpy and the midges out in full force. Still, the second hive has a honey box now too. The stores were sufficient and things were generally going well. One of the bee’s favourite summer flower is in bloom: white clover. The picture shows the first ones but soon the garden was covered… till Mike Wilson came yesterday to cut the grass. But there are still plenty left. The most enthralling ode to white clover is in Soma Morgenstern’s ‘In einer anderen Zeit’. If you read German it is well worth the effort. I found it ‘unputdownable’.It's in the library of the Polranny Pirates.

Putting up the sheep fence

During the rest of the month of April it was very peaceful around the starter hives. The weather that had been beautiful and summerlike changed for the worse. On the very last day of April Timothy drove up again with Amanda and a very small blue-eyed sheepdog puppy. They had just been to Achill where Timothy had put two starter hives at Achill Secret Garden (not four as I have posted; the Styrofoam hives had not been emptied yet into the wooden hives) where Amanda had been stung on the forehead. They had also inspected a promising site at Saula. Timothy was going to put the sheep wire up and change the Styrofoam hive into a wooden one.

Bees in Achill Secret Garden

As honey source is the ultimate condition for keeping bees Achill Secret Garden is the place to be. On the last day of April on their daughter’s thirties birthday Timothy the beekeeper installed no less than 4 starter hives in the seaside garden of Pirate’s friends Doutsje and Willem. The garden with all its flowering plants and shrubs is a haven for hungry honey bees. Doutsje and Willem improved and beautified an existing hundred year old seaside garden on the east coast of Achill Island. Since 1967 they have been working non-stop to make this garden the pride of the island. During the past winter they have cleared a section where wind damaged trees darkened the ground. Timothy chose this place for his beehives. It is far from the house and the visitor’s route through the garden.

Fit to be tied

I was so upset about what the sheep had done to the hives that I was fit to be tied. I was sure the exposure of the inside of the hive to the elements would lead to the death of the whole swarm. What would that do to Timothy the beekeeper? Only one day after he managed the hives and so deftly and knowledgeable cared for his beloved bees. I was sure he would deem me unfit to host his bees as I could not even protect them from fecking sheep! Timothy would pack them up and take them away leaving me all alone. Then I knew that the bees had entered my life big time. But Timothy was unimpressed: ‘No harm done’, he said. ‘This is sheep country. Something like this is to be expected. It could have been worse. I should have tied the hives up properly.’ What a relief!

Damaging sheep

The next morning I was in total despair. Over night the sheep of neighbour Peggy , foraging for food away from home, had dislodged one of the hives. Part of the inside of the hive was exposed and bees were flying around angry and disoriented. I called Timothy’s mother as I didn’t have his phone number, to ask if she could tell him that there was an emergency. Then I got into the car to get Peggy and drag her to the scene of the crime to get her sheep sorted. But Peggy was nowhere to be found, probably hiding under the bed as soon as she saw my red car racing up the driveway.

When bees do sting

Timothy installed the beehives on the hive stand he had put behind the screen. He wasn’t dressed in a beekeeper’s protective suit and hood. He did not even wear gloves. ‘The bees are still groggy from hibernating. At this stage they are very docile. It is only later in the year, around July and August when they are very busy that they are more liable to sting.’ Of course! As a child I had experienced many times that bees, contrary to wasps, were not sting-happy. They only stung when they felt threatened. Once they put the hook into the human skin, they could not get it out and would die. I remember looking on in horror how after I was stung and I had swiped the bee away in a panic I was left not only with a hook but also with the poison gland sticking out of my skin.

The learning curve

On the third of April the white van finally drove up to the house again. ‘I brought you two starter hives,’ Timothy announced. He took out stakes and green mesh: ‘I’m putting up a screen first,’ he explained. ‘The hives will be placed behind it.’ ‘But I was told they need space for a free flight when they come out of the hive,’ I said. ‘When the bees get out to forage they are hungry and impatient. They won’t tolerate anybody in their way. Now they have to gain altitude first and if you’re around they will fly over your head.’ It was the beginning of a learning curve. That much I understood.

A location for the beehives gets chosen

Nothing happened for a couple of months. I was already getting sort of disappointed as I was quite taken with the idea of the Polranny Pirates being host to bees. Then one morning a white van stopped at the house and father and son Stevens emerged. They were in the neighborhood and Timothy decided to take a look at the garden and see if it was fit for bees. I showed them the three possible locations that I had sought out. Timothy’s preferred spot was fortunately the same as mine: the area along the west fence. ‘The bees are still hibernating, but as soon as we have had a couple of days with temperatures over 15 degrees I’ll bring a few hives,’ Timothy promised. ‘That is usually after Saint Patrick’s Day.’ He added. Saint Patrick’s Day came and went, but temperatures stayed low.

Clew Bay Honey

‘Clew Bay Honey is the name of Timothy's business,’ his mother told us matter of fact. ‘ He has about fifty beehives and is expanding.’ ‘Does he have them all around his place?’ I asked. ‘He parks the hives out everywhere in the area: from Castlebar to Achill. Wherever people are willing to take them.’ Now that was interesting. ‘Would he put them in the garden of the Polranny Pirates?’ I asked. ‘I’m sure he will.’ And she proceeded to send him a text with my wish. And that was it.