Local beekeepers are buzzing

Lisburn’s Old Warren estate has become home for some of Mother Nature’s hardest and most endangered workers – honey bees.

A £2,000 grant from the Housing Executive, has helped to establish the new Lisnagarvey Beekeeping Club, part of a local Men’s Shed initiative, with help from the Resurgam Trust.

Honey from the bees has now been harvested for sale as part of the innovative social economy project.

Denis Paisley from the Resurgam Trust explained; “The aim of our project is to look after the health of older people – to get them out of the house and remove isolation.

“Some of the boys were interested in honey bees – they are an amazing species - and so we arranged a foundation course in Preliminary Beekeeping to train them up.

“There are great benefits to the community – certainly from the honey – which helps the social enterprise and builds sustainability for local projects.

“We hope this idea spreads to other areas too.

“Our thanks go to the Housing Executive for their faith in the project and for providing us with the space to make it grow.”

Aengus Hannaway, Lisburn and Castlereagh Regional Manager at the Housing Executive, said; “This is a brilliant project which we were very happy to support.

“It’s fantastic to see Housing Executive land being used so productively and in a way that is having an incredibly positive impact on our local natural infrastructure.”

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