Young beekeepers take on challenge of 'aggressive' Irish honeybees

They are used to tending to hives of honeybees at home, but this week young beekeepers from across the world have taken on the challenge of inspecting "aggressive" Irish honeybees in an international competition.

About 75 competitors from 27 countries are taking part in the International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB), which is being hosted in Northern Ireland for the first time.

Among them is Elija from Austria, who keeps 15 beehives with his mother at home.

"We took the practical at the beehives, we have to look after the bees and tell the judges what we can see," he said, adding that, while there are some similarities, the Irish honeybees are "a little bit more aggressive" than the bees he has at home.

Elan, from Australia, has four hives of his own, but his family has about 700 hives commercially.

He said working with British National hives had been "a bit different" as he is used to Langstroth hives.

"And the bees, I would say, were a tad more aggressive than the ones down under, with me getting stung as well."

Nikol, from Bulgaria, looks after seven beehives with her father.

She said she had "really enjoyed" working with the bees in the apiary, adding that they were "almost the same" to the ones she has in Bulgaria.

"Here they're a little bit more aggressive but I haven't got stung so it's fine."

Six young people are representing Northern Ireland at the event, including John, who grew up around beekeeping and is competing alongside his sister for the first time.

"It's been great. I've been making new friends, it's been very fun," he said.

"We've been going around wee spots doing tasks like making frames, we made a super and designed labels, so it's been very fun."

The International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB) is the world's largest gathering of young beekeeping talent.

Competitors have been taking part in hive inspections, equipment building, country presentations and wildflower planting, with teams made up of young beekeepers from different countries to encourage them to learn from one another.

This is the 14th edition and it is the first time it has been hosted in Northern Ireland.

The last meeting was held in Dubai and Turkey is set to host the next event.

The Ulster Beekeepers Association (UBKA) are hosting the event which is taking place until 8 July.

Brian Grzymek, one of the event's organisers and vice chairman of the UBKA, said it was "brilliant to see so many young and enthusiastic people taking up beekeeping".

"There's a really good mix of youngsters who are interested and love bees, and they come here for a beekeeping competition but also to make new friends, to learn more about beekeeping and to see how people beekeep in other parts of the world," he said.

"In Northern Ireland we do have a number of young beekeepers... but the thing is the future for Northern Ireland's beekeeping actually lives with the young," he added.

He said money raised through the event would go into a fund to support young beekeepers.

The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society is one of IMYB's supporters - its president, David Cunningham, said there was "a lot of activity going on" when he visited the apiary.

"It was good to get close up and have a look," he said,

"The enthusiasm of the young people that we're seeing here from 27 countries is absolutely fantastic.

"Pollination feeds the world. It's critical in the agricultural world, and it's so important that we have and maintain that."