IN PICTURES: Buzzing gifts to Laois Tidy towns groups

Portlaoise Men’s Shed made special presentations to tidy towns groups of a memorial solitary bee box in memory of Gerry Murphy one of its members who passed away in 2020.

Ray Harte, a founder and current secretary of  Portlaoise Men's Shed, was invited to speak about the project and how it had come about. Ray thanked the tidy towns groups, Laois County Council and members of Gerry’s family Collette Murphy Gerry’s wife and his daughter Roseann Quinn. Tap NEXT or ARROW to see more PICTURES from the AGM in Abbeyleix taken by Alf Harvey. See below the picture to READ MORE about the night.

Gerry Murphy was a long term chairman of Dunamaise beekeepers and a member of the Irish federation of Beekeepers joined our shed in 2014 and very quickly became part of the management committee of the shed, he was the epitome of what a shedder is all about, ready to roll up the sleeves and help out with any chore whether it be plumbing, woodworking, fixing lawnmowers and strimmers and gardenening and always willing to share his many skills with other members of the shed. 

However, his passion for beekeeping, honey and anything to do with pollinators was what stood out and if you managed to get into a conversation about this you could put on the kettle for two or three cups of tea and a half pack of biscuits and still find the conversation going.

He lobbied the government about controls of imported queens and the development of rearing programmes for our indigineous black Irish bee which is under threat due to hybridisation with non-native strains of honey bee and tend to be more docile with less swarming tendencies. He was also vocal about the use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture and woodland management.

Gerry passed away in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and unfortunately, we were unable to attend his funeral and give him a proper send-off which set the wheels in motion for this memorial project with the support of Laois County Council. 

The bee box or solitary bee box not bee hive is for solitary bees which don’t live in hives. In Ireland, there are 98 bee species one being the honey bee which is looked after and thriving. However the 20 bumble bees and 77 solitary bees and indeed all pollinators are greatly affected by human activity, loss of habitats, pesticides and herbecides.

The boxes have also an element of up-cycling as one of our members up-cycled oak floor boards to provide better roof moisture resistance and extend box life.

Men’s sheds are all about community so it made perfect sense to provide these boxes to communities throughout the county also as Tidy Towns groups are now embracing rewilding and installation of wildflower patches this could be the perfect location for the bee boxes and may also have a positive result with judging of wildflower/biodiversity areas during tidy towns adjudication.

Boxes may not necessarily be a solution to biodiversity loss but they will hopefully spark conversations about what individuals, communities, villages and towns can do to mitigate the loss of pollinators and bio diversity.

"We are delighted we could carry out this project in memory of our friend and colleague Gerry Murphy and his passion for all things beekeeping and are sure he would be chuffed if he had realised his legacy would be carried on in such a way," say the Mens Shed members in Portlaoise.