Published in BBKA News, the British Beekeepers’ Association Magazine, Dec 2024

I first came across the British Bee Journal in 1986.  I was about ten years old when I went to a local Christmas bazaar in Dublin.  In a room dedicated to the sale of books, I found a stack of well-thumbed, sun bleached British Bee Journals. At the time, they appeared to me as if belonging to a bygone era, being published in the 1960s and 70s. I was delighted with myself: I had scored the perfect Christmas present for my Dad – an avid reader and keen beekeeper.  My father had an insatiable curiosity for absorbing other beekeepers’ practices, an inquisitiveness he maintains to this day, being a beekeeper for 70 of his 85 years.  

Little did I know that I would seek out the same bundle of British Bee Journals as an undergraduate and postgraduate of Irish Folklore in University College Dublin.  Twenty years later, I unearthed the journals once again, having returned to my academic research that delved into the folklore of bees in Irish and other folk traditions and has led to the publication of my book: The Keeper of the Bees – Bees and Beekeeping in Irish Folklore. 

Being such close neighbours, it is unsurprising that a treasure trove of bee-lore is shared between Ireland and the UK.  The fluid nature of folklore contributes to its capacity to evolve and inherit distinct characteristics, being shared via the oral tradition over millennia.  

The story of bees’ arrival into Ireland is a wonderful connection between both isles.  It tells of a monk, named Modomnoc, bringing bees by boat to Ireland from a monastery in Wales in the sixth century.  Modomnoc was head beekeeper at a monastery governed by David, the bishop of Mynyw, who was canonised in the twelfth century and became the patron saint of Wales.  

Modomnoc forged a special bond with his bees. Nearing old age, he returned to his homeland and accepted that he must leave his bees behind. When he embarked on his journey however, his beloved bees followed him overhead like a little speckled cloud; an act of loyalty that recurred a second, and a third time.  Modomnoc eventually conceded and, with David’s blessing, he introduced bees to Ireland where they flourished thereafter.  

The unique relationship between the bee and its keeper has a rich and pervasive presence within lore and legend.  It is considered a polite act to inform bees of household events, such as weddings, births and most poignantly, deaths.  The practice of ‘telling the bees’ is one of deep respect, and signals how highly bees are regarded.  In Ireland, food from the wake is commonly left beside beehives so as to include the bees in the proceedings.  In the UK, the news is often delivered in the form of a rhyme, such as the following verse, collected in Lincolnshire and quoted in a British Bee Journal in 1970:

Honey bees, honey bees, hear what I say!

Your master, J.A., has passed away.

But his wife now begs you will freely stay

And still gather honey for many a day

Bonny bees, bonny bees, hear what I say!

A grieving custom shared in Ireland and the UK, is the placement of a black crepe or piece of material on the roofs of beehives.  When Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, the royal beekeeper positioned black ribbons fashioned into bows on the beehives and whilst knocking on each, he requested that the bees remained within, with the promise that their new master would also treat them well.  

The ritual of telling the bees safeguards against losing a hive, and if not fulfilled, the bees may take offence and either abandon the hive or succumb to death themselves.  Should bees take flight, folklore provides a wonderful selection of measures to prevent swarming.  An ancient practice in Britain involved spraying the front of the hive with a mixture of warm water and wine, or smoking it with burning donkey dung so as to ensure the bees stayed put.  

‘Ringing the bees’ is an ancient method of intercepting a swarm and coaxing bees to settle.  It involves banging pots and pans and directing the loud racket in the face of the swarm.  In Ireland, it was customary to bang shovels and tin cans with the accompaniment of a melodeon or bodhrán.  This practice, known as ‘tanging the bees’ in the UK, has been documented in England for hundreds of years and dutifully recorded in British Bee Journals in 1969 and 1971.  

Thankfully, the British Bee Journal has a presence in the current BBKA News, and the archive is a rich source of memories and musings that are unlikely to be taught in a beekeeping course or manual.  They document observations made and stories shared and offer yet another, alluring dimension of beekeeping, that otherwise, may have been forgotten.