Busy with Bees, a chat with beekeeper Mark Riordan of HiveMind.ie

The NeighbourFood Podcast

Honeybees are an integral part of our natural world. They pollinate the majority of our crops and trees, giving us the food we eat and the air we breathe. Not only important for our ecosystem, but also for our economy as bees and other pollinators are responsible for a third of our food and contribute billions to the global economy each year. It’s important we look after them, because without bees we are nothing and we are all aware of the decline and threats to bees these days from habitat loss, pesticides and climate change.

And this week’s chat with beekepper Mark Riordan, founder of HiveMind.ie

While Mark got into beekeeping about 10 years ago, in somewhat an accidental fashion, his work with bees has developed into a fascinating enterprise called HiveMind, allowing companies and individuals to sponsor a hive. We’ll hear more of this journey, as well as his honey experiments into beer, fermenting and sometimes accidental kinds of vinegar.

We also learn about what you find in typical Irish honey from hawthorn to blackberries and more.

Mark of course also tells us of the importance of bees to every single one of us, how they are all key to our existence and the impact and threat that our environmental footprint is having on the bee population today.

We mentioned during the course of this podcast a live beehive sound recording which you can download here

Check out the Irish Beekeepers Association on www.irishbeekeeping.ie

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