Author Archives: Jonathan Getty

About Jonathan Getty

Jonathan Getty is a former chair of Belfast & District branch of the Ulster Beekeepers Association which has over 250 members and is a current committee member. He is at least a fourth generation beekeeper in the Getty family. His main beekeeping interest is queen rearing based on our native bee Apis mellifera mellifera. He started up the Belfast Minnowburn queenrearing group in 2012 and is currently involved with a new queenrearing group in Co. Tyrone which started up in 2020. He manages over 100 colonies of his own spread over about a dozen apiary sites in NI. He also rears between 400-500 queens per season using 200 Apideas. Jonathan holds a BSc Hons in Psychology from Queens University Belfast and gained a postgraduate teaching qualification at Stranmillis Training College. He is a fluent Spanish speaker.

Nucs January 2019

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Jonathan Getty

Nucs are looking good at the moment. Small amounts of pollen coming in    

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last few queens 2018

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Jonathan Getty

I have a few queens left if anyone wants to order one.

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How to introduce your queen

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Jonathan Getty

When you receive your queen, I would suggest you first introduce her to a nuc of young queenless bees rather than directly trying to requeen a full colony, especially if it has been queenless for a long time and is … Continue reading →

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Posting dates for queens

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Jonathan Getty

I hope to start posting queens around the middle of June so if you ordered early there should not be too long to wait now. The weather has been great for a couple of weeks but there was a slow … Continue reading →

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Grafting well under way

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Jonathan Getty

The first batch of queens is emerging in the incubator this morning. If you ordered early, ie before March, I would hope to be able to start posting queens by the middle of June. If you ordered more recently it … Continue reading →

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Lecture details for the NIHBS conference 9-10 Feb

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Jonathan Getty

Details here

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Native Irish Honeybee Society

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Jonathan Getty

I will be giving a talk on how to set up a queen rearing group at the NIHBS conference in Athlone on 9th February  

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2018 orders

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Jonathan Getty

I am now taking orders for June 2018 delivery

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Queen bee mating sign

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Jonathan Getty

saw this earlier this afternoon at 4.45. Temperature was 15c video

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Orders for 2017 delivery now closed

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Jonathan Getty

Orders for 2017 have now closed so any queens ordered now will be for June 2018 delivery, weather permitting. I post out queens in the order they have been paid for and I always check first to arrange a suitable … Continue reading →

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