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Post by Queenie on Jul 5, 2014 11:15:40 GMT
Does anybody know if there are any local honey producers around.. I am having severe hay fever and allergy problems this year and have been advised to source local honey..
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frog
Junior Member
Posts: 260
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Post by frog on Jul 5, 2014 11:56:16 GMT
You might have some luck herel www.irishbeekeeping.ie/federation/affassoctxt.html#nkildareMy husband suffers badly with hayfever but gets great relief from freshly squeezed orange as vitamin c helps greatly during an attack. Luffa Complex Tincture Extract is excellent too. A few drops straight onto your tongue works really well. Bought some in Blakes Pharmacy last week.
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Post by Queenie on Jul 5, 2014 21:40:31 GMT
Thank you frog.. I contacted the North Kildare Beekeepers Association and they said they have someone near me who can help.. So I'm just waiting for him to e-mail me.. I never had allergies or hay fever until last year and it has become so severe that the pharmacist suggested I ask the doc for an epi pen !!! She said the allergies this year are very very severe.. The lime trees surrounding Castletown don't help as they are scattering quite a bit of pollen this weather!
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Post by joepublic on Jul 6, 2014 14:11:24 GMT
I heard some "experts" on the radio saying that Ireland is small and most areas could be considered similar so honey from one area would be much the same as honey from another area. You do get differences like darker honey from bog heather and lighter from more normal flowers and clover. The main thing is to make sure the honey hasn't been pasteurised as this will kill off a lot of the natural bacteria and thus lessen its curative properties.
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Post by grainnewhale on Jul 7, 2014 9:08:57 GMT
I know that this is off the topic but there seems to be a shortage of bees this year - I have lavender planted in my garden and in previous years there would be up to 50+ bees on it but this year I've only seen very few.
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Post by joepublic on Jul 7, 2014 10:53:10 GMT
Albert Einstein said: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”
Bees worldwide have been declining in numbers due to man destroying their habitats.
We still have hedgerows where whitethorn, blackberry, bramble and willow grow wild. We still have a fair amount of wild habitat for bees, while controlled use of pesticides and a native strain, the dark Irish bee, leaves Ireland a haven for beekeeping.
Our bees have acclimatised over millennia and are very suited to Irish conditions, foraging at low temperatures and frugal with their winter store. They build up fast into strong colonies by early summer, thus leading to high honey yields at harvest time.
Leading beekeeping expert Dr Philip McCabe says people should simply do nothing if they find a nest of bees: they should seek the advice of a local beekeeper, or contact the College of Horticulture, An Grianán, Termonfechin, Co Louth. He says when a swarm of bees emerge from a colony they will usually hang on a tree, or bush, close-by. It’s all very orderly. It’s at this point that honey bees are at their calmest and are easy to handle.
The reason for this, he explains, is that they are full of food.
They fill up before emerging in a swarm and they have no home to defend. The beekeeper will then collect the swarm in a box or a straw skep and bring them to the site of their new home, a pre-prepared hive with frames of wax which is raised off the ground.
If the honey bee is in trouble so is its cousin, the bumble bee. At one time, Ireland’s hedges and meadows supported 18 bumble bee species, but surveys in recent years have found just three species.
The plump, furry-looking bee that can be seen flying from flower to flower in the garden is a bumble bee and is more visible than the honey bee. The widespread cutting down of hedgerows and intensification of farming are said to be among the reason for the loss of so many bumble bee species.
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Post by grainnewhale on Jul 7, 2014 11:20:52 GMT
Joe, I have foxgloves in the back garden but again there is a lack of bees flying in and out of them, I did happen to notice one evening a bumble bee (Native Honey Bee) who was carrying pollen but he seemed to be disorientated when flying.
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Post by joepublic on Jul 7, 2014 13:46:09 GMT
With all the St John's Wort in bloom at the moment the bumble bees are busy on them as they have a high yield of pollen. The bumble bees can appear drunk when high on pollen scent and have a full load with more stuck to their furry coat.
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