Urban apiculture is having a moment.

If you’ve been keeping up with the struggles of the modern bee (one third of Ireland’s bee population is at risk of extinction and bumblebee numbers are down 14 per cent since 2012), you’ll know there is a groundswell of support across the country for people who want to do something about it – and starting your own hive could be just the thing.

Because bees, for the most part, prefer to keep to themselves, urban hives can be built on apartment roofs, terraces and small gardens. In fact, the trend for beekeeping has taken off in New York City, where space is permanently at a premium.

As luck would have it, this year’s CIT Autumn night class schedule includes a beginners course in Beekeeping.

The seven-week course will be held in CIT Cork on Wednesday nights from 7.30pm, kicking off on October 9th, 2019.

The modules are varied and should be enough to give you a decent grounding 

• Beekeeping – What it entails
• Workings of a Bee Colony
• Beekeeping Equipment
• Controlling Bees and working for Honey
• Pollen & Nectar sources
• Keeping Bees healthy and solving problems
• Harvesting the Honey

As part of the course (€140, booking here), every participant goes home with a copy of the world’s best selling book on beekeeping; Guide to Bees & Honey by Ted Hooper.

Even if you don’t fancy beekeeping as a hobby, there’s loads you can do to make life easier for these important little pollinators – start with this list of pollinator-friendly window box and garden plants.