Wanting to make some fundamental changes to our lifestyle and be as self sufficient as we could, we began to produce much of our own fruit and vegetables as possible. This has made us much more in tune with the seasons, knowing what is available when to get the greatest benefits and avoid having to buy from the local supermarket. Beekeeping was a natural extension to have these amazing pollinators enhance our crop yields and being able to benefit from the lovely by products of Honey for the morning porridge or to easing a sore throat. Learning more about the plight of native Irish bees, we wanted to do something. The Native Irish Honey Bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) a strain of the Dark European Honey Bee which that was found across Northern Europe. They are now scarce in most areas due to cross-breeding with other strains of the honey bee and diseases from imported bees. We have now established sufficient colonies and developed a native breeding program in collaboration with NIHBS and other local beekeepers to improve the characteristics and populations.  All of our honey is simply extracted from the frames and cold filtered, which means that it passes through a course filter to remove large particles such as wax cappings, bee parts or propolis. The raw honey is never heated, in doing that would destroy the beneficial properties.