Working Life: Keeping native Irish honey bees alive is my main aim

Hanna Bäckmo, founder of Hanna’s Bees

Hanna Bäckmo, Hanna's Bees Picture: Andres Poveda

“My beekeeping journey started with peaches. I’ve always had a passion for growing things, and 15 years ago, I bought a cottage in Little Island, Co Cork, on 0.5a and started planting peaches and nectarines. They flower so early, and there weren’t any pollinators around. To get them pollinated, I had to get bees. I should have stopped after the first three or four hives, but I’m up to about 70 now.

“I don’t do it for the honey; my main aim is to keep the native Irish honey bees alive as pollinators, but we do produce products like honey, beeswax candles, polishes, beeswax wraps and propolis, which is a resinous ‘bee glue’ with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

“Female worker bees do all the foraging for nectar and pollen. I move the hives to different crops during the year, so we get a range of different honeys. Early on, I move them to East Cork so they can forage on rapeseed. It’s win-win for the farmer because it improves the crop yield. In summer, they can forage on fuchsia, brambles, you name it. Earlier this month, they were moved to the mountains to forage on heather, and the last honey before winter is ivy.

“The nectar is turned into honey by worker bees — it’s their food for winter. They dry it out by fanning their wings and seal it with wax to stop it fermenting, otherwise they’d get drunk.

“Worker bees only live for six weeks, while the queen bee, which can lay over 1,000 eggs daily, can survive several years. She’s the only fertile female in the hive. She leaves it in the first two weeks of life to mate with several drones, to guard against inbreeding. Drones — all male — die after mating. It’s vicious.

“My son Julius turned into a beekeeper, age four, during covid. When his creche closed, I bought him the smallest beekeeper suit I could find and took him with me to work. Kids’ curiosity and fearlessness make them excellent beekeepers. Julius is nine now and knows a great deal about bees.

• As part of Cork on a Fork Fest 2026, which runs until Sunday, Hanna will host a Little Foodies Tipi at Bishop Lucey Park at 1.15pm tomorrow and at 1pm on Sunday. Kids can learn why bees matter and meet Hanna and her bees.