The Heather Is Blooming on Inishturk — A Welcome Sign for Our Bees
Out on Inishturk Island, off the Mayo coast on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, the hillsides are turning purple. The heather is coming into bloom, and for the native Irish honey bees (Apis mellifera mellifera) at the Inishturk Native Irish Honey Bee Sanctuary, this is one of the most important moments of the year.
Why the Heather Matters
Heather is a late-season lifeline for our colonies. After the earlier summer forage tapers off, the moorland and hillside heather offers a final, concentrated source of nectar and pollen right when the bees need to be building their winter stores. It’s also the source of heather honey — a rich, distinctively textured honey that beekeepers and honey lovers alike prize, and one that’s genuinely difficult to come by in any quantity, since heather nectar is notoriously hard for bees to work and slow to yield.
For our colonies on Inishturk, the bloom is a welcome and vital signal: the foraging season isn’t over yet, and there’s still good work — and good honey — ahead.
Both colonies on the island are doing well this season, and we’re hopeful of a modest honey harvest this year. If we do get a harvest, it will go to the islanders only — a small way of giving something back to the community that hosts and looks after the sanctuary.
The research side is going well too. We’re now gathering comparative data across three sites — our hives here on Inishturk, our colony at Kiladoon on the Mayo mainland, and a further colony in Co. Wicklow — to build a fuller, all-island picture of how Ireland’s native honey bee is faring across different regions.
Come and See It for Yourself
Late-summer heather bloom is a spectacular time to visit the island, and it’s easy to combine with a stop at the sanctuary itself. A few starting points if you’re planning a trip:
● Inishturk Island — the island’s own site, with ferry information, accommodation, and things to do
● Wild Atlantic Way — Ireland’s official coastal touring route, of which Inishturk is a remote and rewarding stop
● Visit Mayo — for planning the wider Mayo leg of your trip before you catch the ferry
● Ireland.com — Tourism Ireland’s guide to County Mayo
Whether you’re passing through on the Wild Atlantic Way or making the trip out specifically to see the sanctuary, there’s rarely a better time to watch the bees at work than when the heather’s in bloom.
The Inishturk Native Irish Honey Bee Sanctuary is dedicated to the conservation of Ireland’s native honey bee, Apis mellifera mellifera, on Inishturk Island, Co. Mayo.