Ciara Kinsella and her husband, Liam, are busy preparing for the honey season.
There are 20 hives on the farm, and these will require a day’s work per week from now until the end of the summer.
Hives are checked weekly to ensure they are healthy, with no evidence of disease and that the queen is present and active.
Hives are also checked to make sure there is no evidence of eminent swarming, ie the hive being abandoned by its current residents. Supers will also be added as they fill up.
Supers are the part of the hives where bees store honey.
The first supers were put on last weekend, as honey flow has just started.
The main harvesting of the honey will be at the end of August, which will require a lot of work. Ciara also has a honey room where the honey will be extracted from the comb.
Last year, there were 14 hives which produced 1,200 jars of honey, and it is hoped that there will be more this year. However, this is completely dependent on the weather.
There are 20 beehives on the farm this year.
Once collected, the honey is cold filtered and sold in jars directly from the farm and via the Tykillen Farm online shop.
Lambing has finished, and all lambs are out to grass now. While there were mostly single lambs this year, there were few losses on the farm and all lambs were born lively.
Biodiversity on the farm
Ciara has also received the results of the biodiversity scoring which was carried out on her farm earlier this year by the Biodiversity in a Dairying Environment (BRIDE) project and Farming for Nature EIP as part of the Footprint Farmers Programme.
Ciara’s farm received a farmland biodiversity index (FBI) of 28C. This score is a combination of the quantity of Space for Nature (SFN) on the farm and the quality of the SFN.
Ciara hopes to move this gateway and put in a pond in this area, as water is gathering here and aquatic-type plants and frogspawn are also in the area.
The quality ranges from an ‘A’ to an ‘E’, with an ‘A’ being the highest quality score. The 28 signifies that 28% of the farm is classified as Space for Nature, with the average quality of the SFN a ‘C’ on Ciara’s farm.
How to improve this score
Ideally, Tykillen Farm would have received a score of ‘B’. Among the areas that lowered the score was a new hedge that was planted on the farm two years ago.
While it has great potential to benefit wildlife, the low score of the habitat was reflective of the low diversity of species in the hedgerow. The hedge is entirely whitethorn, and in the future continuation of this hedgerow, it is recommended that other species of native hedgerow plants such as blackthorn, holly or dog rose are included.
The whitethorn hedge on Ciara's farm, with the area affected by ash dieback behind it. This hedge will be extended as part of ACRES.
Ciara is planting 100m of hedging as part of her ACRES measures, and she plans to add these species to the new hedge.
Including a diverse range of plants will support a greater diversity of wildlife.
Ciara also plans to install a pond in a sunken gateway in a field that is holding water. The gateway will be moved to another area of the field. This area is ideal for a pond to be dug as it is in a sunny location, and aquatic-type plants are already growing in the area. There is also frogspawn present.
An area of the farm that scored well was the woodland area of the farm, which spans 15 acres. There is a great mix of species there, including oak and alder. There is also an area of ash. However, ash dieback has affected this entire area.
Ciara hopes to have this area removed by the end of the year, with agroforestry being put back in its place.
The sporthorse side of the business is doing very well at the moment. Ciara is currently competing young event horses in the Stepping Stones to Success eventing league at her local equestrian centre.
Ciara is currently competing in the Stepping Stones to Success league at Wexford Equestrian Centre.
There was a foal born on the farm last week, with another expected in the coming weeks.
Ciara purchased a new broodmare from Holland last November, which she hopes to put in foal in the next month. This mare is from a showjumping line, which will allow Ciara to expand the business from sporthorses to showjumpers.
Ciara Kinsella and her husband, Liam, are busy preparing for the honey season.
There are 20 hives on the farm, and these will require a day’s work per week from now until the end of the summer.
Hives are checked weekly to ensure they are healthy, with no evidence of disease and that the queen is present and active.
Hives are also checked to make sure there is no evidence of eminent swarming, ie the hive being abandoned by its current residents. Supers will also be added as they fill up.
Supers are the part of the hives where bees store honey.
The first supers were put on last weekend, as honey flow has just started.
The main harvesting of the honey will be at the end of August, which will require a lot of work. Ciara also has a honey room where the honey will be extracted from the comb.
Last year, there were 14 hives which produced 1,200 jars of honey, and it is hoped that there will be more this year. However, this is completely dependent on the weather.
There are 20 beehives on the farm this year.
Once collected, the honey is cold filtered and sold in jars directly from the farm and via the Tykillen Farm online shop.
Lambing has finished, and all lambs are out to grass now. While there were mostly single lambs this year, there were few losses on the farm and all lambs were born lively.
Biodiversity on the farm
Ciara has also received the results of the biodiversity scoring which was carried out on her farm earlier this year by the Biodiversity in a Dairying Environment (BRIDE) project and Farming for Nature EIP as part of the Footprint Farmers Programme.
Ciara’s farm received a farmland biodiversity index (FBI) of 28C. This score is a combination of the quantity of Space for Nature (SFN) on the farm and the quality of the SFN.
Ciara hopes to move this gateway and put in a pond in this area, as water is gathering here and aquatic-type plants and frogspawn are also in the area.
The quality ranges from an ‘A’ to an ‘E’, with an ‘A’ being the highest quality score. The 28 signifies that 28% of the farm is classified as Space for Nature, with the average quality of the SFN a ‘C’ on Ciara’s farm.
How to improve this score
Ideally, Tykillen Farm would have received a score of ‘B’. Among the areas that lowered the score was a new hedge that was planted on the farm two years ago.
While it has great potential to benefit wildlife, the low score of the habitat was reflective of the low diversity of species in the hedgerow. The hedge is entirely whitethorn, and in the future continuation of this hedgerow, it is recommended that other species of native hedgerow plants such as blackthorn, holly or dog rose are included.
The whitethorn hedge on Ciara's farm, with the area affected by ash dieback behind it. This hedge will be extended as part of ACRES.
Ciara is planting 100m of hedging as part of her ACRES measures, and she plans to add these species to the new hedge.
Including a diverse range of plants will support a greater diversity of wildlife.
Ciara also plans to install a pond in a sunken gateway in a field that is holding water. The gateway will be moved to another area of the field. This area is ideal for a pond to be dug as it is in a sunny location, and aquatic-type plants are already growing in the area. There is also frogspawn present.
An area of the farm that scored well was the woodland area of the farm, which spans 15 acres. There is a great mix of species there, including oak and alder. There is also an area of ash. However, ash dieback has affected this entire area.
Ciara hopes to have this area removed by the end of the year, with agroforestry being put back in its place.
The sporthorse side of the business is doing very well at the moment. Ciara is currently competing young event horses in the Stepping Stones to Success eventing league at her local equestrian centre.
Ciara is currently competing in the Stepping Stones to Success league at Wexford Equestrian Centre.
There was a foal born on the farm last week, with another expected in the coming weeks.
Ciara purchased a new broodmare from Holland last November, which she hopes to put in foal in the next month. This mare is from a showjumping line, which will allow Ciara to expand the business from sporthorses to showjumpers.
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