We came across this short clip and article on RTÉ about a Dublin-based herbalist and forager Aaron Foley and thought it would good to share. Aaron shares ideas and examples from his urban garden that he had re-wilded. This sort of effort, at home, in a small urban setting brilliant for honey bees as well as insects, birds, flowers and more. Well worth a read and watch!
Aaron Foley on RTÉ
Recipe Corner: Honey & rosemary roasted almonds
Looking for a perfect pre-dinner snack with a cold drink? Look no further!
Ingredients
200g almonds
1tbsp OpenHive honey
Flakey sea salt
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Method
Toss the almonds with the honey. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast at 180°C for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to leave them for too long, as they can burn quickly if left unattended.
Remove the almonds from the oven and immediately sprinkle with the sea salt and rosemary. Leave to cool. The honey will harden on the almonds and they will be much less sticky once cooled. Enjoy!
Recipe and Photography by Maria Dublin.
Soft Set Honey
The first time we launched our soft set honey was at The Taste of Dublin 2022, last summer. It promptly sold out that very weekend! Since then we have found that when people learn about the process that goes into it and taste it in person, they love it. The texture, the sweetness and the versatility.
Our soft set honey comes from Newcastle, Co. Wicklow and is a smooth and creamy spreadable honey. Soft set, or creamed honey as it used to be known, is made from regular honey in which the natural granulation process is controlled to give a rich and buttery honey texture. There is nothing added to soft set honey except honey that has already granulated naturally over time.
We bring our bees down to Newcastle in Co. Wicklow in early spring where they forage on the oilseed rape crop. From that honey we create this soft set variety.
Read more and pick up a jar or two here.
OpenHive Honey in Galway!
One of the OpenHive team, Mark Earley, now lives in Galway and along with over a dozen hives he has also brought honey to a number of local businesses out west. If you are passing through, make sure to visit one of the below and pick up some of our summer blossom raw Irish honey.
The Dean Galway Hotel (Prospect Hill, Galway city)
My Little Flower Coffee Shop (Oughterard, Co. Galway)
Wild Beans Coffee Shop (Kinvara, Co. Galway)
Gran Grans Food (Kilcolgan, Co. Galway)
Matt Healy of My Little Flower Coffee Shop in Oughterard
Recipe Corner: Ricotta Toast with Honey-roasted grapes
These honey caramelised grapes with thyme are juicy, sweet, a little savoury and best enjoyed spooned over a crusty ricotta toast with a dusting of sea salt flakes. Top with more honey or some aged balsamic vinegar or both!
Ingredients:
A good handful of red grapes
50ml OpenHive honey
1 tbsp salted butter
Sea salt flakes
Tub of ricotta cheese
Rustic sourdough bread
Fresh thyme leaves
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C. In a small baking dish combine the grapes, butter, honey and a pinch of salt. Bake until the grapes begin to blister, 15 to 20 min. Set aside to cool slightly. Spread each piece of toasted bread with ricotta, drizzle with a bit of honey and/or balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and sea salt flakes. Enjoy!
Recipe and Photography by Maria Dublin.
Taste of Dublin this week!
We will have a stand at the wonderful Taste of Dublin this coming weekend. The food festival runs from Thursday afternoon through ‘til Sunday evening and promises to be a weekend full of fun, great food, brilliant talks, good music and more.
We did an interview with the Taste Crew in their Producers Row series about OpenHive and our plans for the weekend. You can read it here.
And, Kyle will be giving a talk on Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm on the Food For Thought stage. He’ll be chatting about the native Irish honeybee and the importance of local honey.
Bees, bees and more bees!
As the spring turns to summer and the weather heats up, we have seen an explosion in numbers in our hives. It is a wonderful time of year as the bees move into full action. The honey is pouring in, the queens are laying well and the hives are all booming.
Volunteer Beekeepers learning the ropes. Well done Conor!
At this stage if the year we are careful to visit and inspect our hives on a weekly basis. This allows us keep a close eye on how they are doing in terms of the queen laying well, checking for any signs of disease, making sure they have enough room and that they have food enough in case of any sudden weather changes. It’s a very busy, but very fun time of year for beekeepers. Long may the good weather continue!
Wicklow Naturally
Did you know that we are proud members of Wicklow Naturally? Many of our hives are in various apiaries around north Wicklow where they forage on the rapeseed in spring, bring in a multi-floral summer blossom honey and visit the heather in the autumn. We are very proud of being part of the Wicklow ecosystem and enjoy working with like-minded organisations.
‘Wicklow Naturally’ is the food and drink brand championing our county’s food and drink producers. It is formed by a collaboration of food and drink representatives, Wicklow County Council, Local Enterprise Office, County Wicklow Partnership and LEADER following the launch of the county’s food and drink strategy in 2019. At Wicklow Naturally, we work together to develop the brand as positive, sustainable and environmentally conscious, by showcasing the finest food and drink from this part of Ireland’s Ancient East.
Read about us here.
Taste of Dublin
We are very excited to be taking part in this year’s Taste of Dublin Festival in the Iveagh Gardens in June. Last year we had an absolute blast. Put the dates in your diary and we will see you there!
Swarms and Swarming
From April to July every year, bee colonies will naturally split. Half of the bees will leave their nest to find a new home. This is caused by many factors and is a natural occurrence within a colony. As the bees travel to a new home they will move in large numbers which is quite scary for some people, however, they mean no harm. The name for it is swarming.
Swarms can often be problematic in urban environments as the bees can move into man-made structures - chimneys, roofs, walls etc. The bees can be difficult to remove and are often exterminated. At OpenHive we launched a program last year to help with this. You can read about it here.
If you live in south Dublin, north Wicklow or Galway and need help with a swarm, feel free to get in touch.
A wonderful resource for help with swarms in Ireland can be found here: https://swarms.ie/
No Mow May
An important message from our friends over at the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan…
#NoMowMay is an annual campaign asking everyone to put away the lawnmower during the month of May to help our native wildlife.
Native Irish wildflowers like Dandelions, Clover, and Birds-foot trefoil provide the best source of pollen and nectar for our hungry wild pollinators. By mowing less, we can give them a chance to appear naturally – no seeds needed!
This year, the National Biodiversity Data Centre are partnering with An Post to invite everyone to join the buzz to save the bees. Keep an eye out in your letterbox for a recyclable No Mow May postcard, which will be posted to 2.3 million Irish homes in the coming weeks.
Why should I take part?
On the island of Ireland, one third of our wild bees are threatened with extinction. This is mainly because of hunger – there isn’t enough food to support them in our landscape. If all of us chose to put our lawnmowers away for one month, we could start creating a network of places where pollinators can survive and thrive.
How can I join in?
Taking part in No Mow May couldn’t be easier – just lock away the lawnmower for the month of May and wait and see what grows. You might be surprised by what appears over a few short weeks. You might see plants like Dandelions, Red and White Clover, and Birds-foot trefoil, all of which are excellent sources of food for pollinating insects, as well as bees, butterflies, and birds, all attracted by the feast on your lawn!
OpenHive honeys in our online store!
We have a delicious range of honeys available in our store including:
Summer Blossom
Soft Set
Heather
All of our honeys are raw Irish honeys with nothing added but hard work from the bees! You can shop for them here.
Recipe Corner: Sweet Honey Curry
A lovely warm curry that isn’t too spicy but full of flavour…
Ingredients
6-8 pieces of chicken I prefer thighs but you can cut up a whole chicken too!
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup liquid honey
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
Take all of the ingredients except for the chicken and whisk together in a bowl.
Take a large skillet and place some olive oil in in. Fry the chicken to get rid of some of the excess fat and crisp the skin.
If you are using an oven safe skillet, keep the chicken in it. If you aren't, transfer the chicken to an oven safe baking sheet or pan.
Pour the sauce over your chicken pieces, coating them all, then set aside some in a little dish for basting later. You don't have to baste, but there is so much sauce that I love to spare some and use it later.
Put the chicken in your 350 degrees oven and cook until the chicken thighs reach a temperature of 180°F.
Now. Important. The honey can and will burn if you have your rack in your oven set too high. Make sure its in the middle, erring on the lower side. Honey burns. Basting will also help make sure it doesn't burn as well. This is truly the only fiddly part about this recipe.
When its ready, serve it up!
Recipe & Photo Credit: The Kitchen Magpie
Upcoming Event: Feel Good Market: April 22nd
We will be attending the first edition of the wellness market: Feel Good Market on Saturday April 22nd in the Fumbally Stables, Dublin 8. It will run from 10am until 5pm. We will have all our products from honey to candles so don’t miss out. We look forward to seeing you there!
OpenHive x Wicklow Wolf
Over the past few weeks we have been patiently sitting on some very exciting news - a collaboration with one of our favourite breweries - Wicklow Wolf! Check out their tap room at the brewery and local stockists to taste the draft edition. You will be able to buy the cans in your usual off licenses soon! Enjoy!
From the wolf’s mouth, so to speak…
Locavore Spring 2023 is a Honey Hefeweizen brewed with heather honey from by our friends at OpenHive.. The bees worked hard in the Wicklow mountains to gather the nectar to make beautiful heather honey. Releasing into the wild early next week.
Oilseed Rape - Fields of Gold!
Our bees have made their first move of the season, making the short trop down to the stunning gold fields of oil seed rape (brassica napus) in Wicklow. We will move most of our hives to The Garden of Ireland to forage on the first strong crop of the year. The hives build up numbers and strength as the queen begins laying in earnest with so much food readily available. It is an exciting and challenging time of year as we move from the quiet months into the buzz of weekly inspections!
Upcoming Event: Meet the Makers: April 7th
Come and meet us, hear our story and buy some of our different honeys on Friday April 7th in the Avoca Kilmacanogue store. Kyle, Jack and Sive will be there from 12pm - 2pm with samples of our summer blossom and out heather cut comb. Looking forward to it!
Good Mood Honey Duck with Camile Thai
We were very excited to see a new OpenHive honey dish launched by Camile Thai Kitchen last month. Check out the details below!
“There's a grand auld stretch in the evening” and to celebrate, Camile Thai Kitchen today announced details of Ireland’s first National Good Mood Day. Taking place today, Tuesday 28th March, the occasion aims to bring people together through the power of food; developed in response to a recent survey conducted by the award-winning Irish restaurant group where 70% of respondents called for its creation!
Customers can now enjoy a celebratory 15% off the entire menu for a limited time only as sharing food with friends and family topped the poll of mood boosting activities for over 94% of those surveyed. The Irish owned restaurant group is also marking the inaugural festivities with the launch of the all-new Good Mood Honey Duck Stir Fry.
A nutritionally certified source of mood and energy boosting vitamin C, this healthy new stir fry dish will feature succulent honey roast duck, stir fried with broccoli, pomegranate, spring onions, and mint in a ginger-sesame sauce - enriched with the sweetness of 100% locally sourced OpenHive honey, produced by Camile Thai-supported native Irish honeybees.
Recipe Corner: Bees Knees Coacktail
A light, fresh, sunshine-in-a-glass kind of drink!
Ingredients
2 tsp honey
50ml dry gin
25ml lemon juice
ice
lemon zest strip, to serve
Method
STEP 1: Put the honey in a small jug or cup and add 1 tsp freshly boiled water. Stir well until smooth and the honey is nicely thinned down.
STEP 2” Pour the honey mixture into a cocktail shaker along with the gin, lemon juice and a large handful of ice. Shake until the outside of the shaker feels very cold.
STEP 3: Double strain into a cocktail glass or a coupe and garnish with a curled strip of lemon zest – you can do this by wrapping it tightly around a spoon handle.
Recipe: BBC Good Food & Photo: Food & Wine
OpenHive Partnership Programme: amdocs
We are delighted to partner with amdocs. Amdocs have been part of our partnership programme for almost a year now and have helped us to introduce hundreds of thousands of our native Irish honeybee into the local ecosystem.
Get in touch
We can tailor our offering to help your companies achieve their Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) goals or fulfil their Corporate Social Responsibilities. Help us to conserve our native Irish honey bee. Read more here: OpenHive Partnership.