Listen to CSO and co-founder Dr Pádraig Whelan speak with Colin Mc Stay and co-host Rebecca Roche on the Dublin City FM radio show ‘Good Morning Dublin’. Listen to the full interview here.
CSO Dr Pádraig Whelan chats all about honey production, the process in which how honey is made, the health benefits of honey and new research into the medicinal uses of honey. In Ireland, beekeepers are now getting ready for harvesting honey. In February, typically an apiary would have 5,000-10,000 bees, by August that number has typically risen to 40,000 – 50,000 honey bees.
Dr Pádraig Whelan discusses all the work honey bees have to do to make a jar of honey.
Did you know to produce 500g of honey, a honey bee needs to visit over 2 million flowers? Honey bees take 15-20 trips a day to 50-100 flowers.
CSO Dr Padraig Whelan and Colin Mc Stay also discuss the medicinal benefits of honey. Honey has been proven to treat wounds and burns due to its inflammatory properties such as hydrogen peroxide and proteins.
Although manuka honey is wildly accredited for these benefits, Dr Pádraig Whelan reveals that recent studies made here in Ireland have given evidence that heather honey and ivy honey can potentially possess the same benefits.
Dr Pádraig Whelan touches slightly on the subject of honey adulteration and honey importation and how local honey producers are finding it hard to compete with cheaper imports from countries outside of Europe. If you’re interested in learning more about honey production and honey adulteration, you can read our latest blog post here.
They also chat about our monitors and how they can help beekeepers along their beekeeping journey. Our monitors allow beekeepers to target which hives need their attention and when. This means beekeepers do not need to visit their apiaries as often and opening hives unnecessarily – beekeepers can spend their time and resources more effectively. You can now pre-order your own ApisProtect monitor here if you live in Ireland or the UK.