Galway’s first Wild Bee Festival is due to take place this weekend to celebrate Ireland’s pollinators and to raise awareness as to how best to help them in local communities.
The festival is organised by the National Biodiversity Data Centre in collaboration with Galway City Council and will take place in Knocknacarra Community Centre on August 17 and 18.
The festival has been organised after the success of similar annual festivals in Skerries, Co. Dublin and in Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The family friendly event is free to enter and will consist of a number of workshops and discussions across the weekend from biodiversity experts, professional bee keepers, community groups and members of Galway City Council.
Organisers have warned however that spaces on Saturday’s Wildflower Seed Collection workshop hosted by Dr. Úna Fitzpatrick are limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis.
Two guided biodiversity walks will also take place in Barna Woods (Saturday 14:00p.m) and in Merlin Woods (Sunday 12:00p.m).
Wild Bee Festival Schedule
Saturday, August 17:
10:00 – How can Communities Help Pollinators? – Kate Chandler, National Biodiversity Data Centre;
11:00 – Creating Community Meadows in Galway City – Rob Steed, Galway City Council;
12:00 – Saving the Large Carder Bee – Grace Clinton, Fenit’s Changing Tides;
14:00 – Wildflower Seed Collection Workshop – Dr. Úna Fitzpatrick, National Biodiversity Data Centre (Numbers are limited for this workshop. Spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis);
14:00 – Helping Biodiversity in Barna Woods (guided walk) – Paula Kearney, Galway City Council.
Sunday, August 18:
10:00 – Learn about Ireland’s Bumblebees – Dr. Úna Fitzpatrick, National Biodiversity Data Centre;
11:00 – Biodiversity in Merlin Woods – Friends of Merlin Woods;
12:00 – Helping Pollinators in Galway City – Workshop & Discussion.
There a number of ways to reach the venue, but organisers recommend availing of public transport where possible, as car park spaces will be limited at the community centre.
Status of bees in Ireland
The All-Ireland Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme, established by the National Biodiversity Data Centre in 2012, tracks Ireland’s population of bumblebees to develop a multi-species index to assess Irish bee’s health and numbers.
The current analyses show that half of our most common bumblebees are in decline with the current overall trend from 2012-2023 showing a year-on-year decline of 3.3%.
There are 21 different bumblebee species evident in Ireland, four of which are endangered, two are vulnerable to extinction and another three species have been classified as ‘Near Threatened’ in a recent Irish Bee Red List survey.