Love the Bees is your warm, holistic guide to the world of beekeeping — and everything that flies, blooms, and buzzes alongside it. Hosted by Yvonne Johnston, a Wicklow based Irish beekeeper with a passion for honeybees, wild bees, and the gardens that support them, each episode brings together expert voices, practical advice, and genuine curiosity about the natural world.

This season is proudly sponsored by Donegal Bees — thank you for supporting Irish beekeeping and helping this show reach more listeners.

In this episode:

We sit down with Dr. Klaus Beckmann, Senior Lab Supervisor at Intertek in Germany, where he leads honey testing and authenticity analysis. Klaus talks us through honey labelling, why the Breakfast Directive is genuinely good news for honey consumers, and what the words “raw” and “organic” actually mean — and don’t mean — on a jar of honey.

In our gardening corner, horticulturist Adrian Kelly joins us to talk through the jobs she’s tackling in the garden over the coming weeks.

I also catch up with our Wicklow beekeepers, Dermot Fanning and Colm Penston to find out exactly what’s happening in their apiaries right now — giving listeners a clear sense of what they should be doing if they’re on schedule. And as always with beekeepers, we get a little conflicting advice along the way, leaving you plenty of room to decide what approach suits you and your own bees best.

To close the show, I’m joined by “The Birdman” Eric Dempsey to talk about 'rusty gates', and why that sound in your garden might be something far more interesting than you think.

As always, thank you so much for listening. Be sure to follow the show, and we’d love to have you join us on Instagram, where you can send through any feedback, questions, or honey stories of your own.

Thank you to Dr. Caitlin Kelly on sound.

📸 Instagram: @lovethebees.ie_

Resources mentioned in this episode: Learn more about honey testing at www.intertek.com Discover Eric Dempsey’s work at www.birdsireland.com

Beekeeping supplies www.donegalbees.com

Long-eared Owl audio was supplied by Sean Ronayne Irish Wildlife Sounds