Young beekeepers create a buzz at competition

Young beekeepers from across the UK were buzzing with excitement as they took part in a beekeeping competition in County Antrim this weekend.

The Ulster Beekeepers Association (UBKA) hosted young beekeepers from Northern Ireland, England and Scotland as part of a home nations meeting.

The young people, aged between 12 and 18, made sure to leave their sting on the beekeeping world as they took part in theory and practical challenges.

The event was held ahead of the International Meeting of Young Beekeepers, which will take place in Belfast in July 2026 and will welcome competitors from 40 countries.

The competition, which took place on Friday and Saturday, was held at the College of Agriculture Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) Greenmount Campus and at the Randalstown & District Beekeepers Association apiary.

The International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB) is the world's largest gathering of young beekeeping talent.

The IMYB 2026 will have an opening ceremony at Titanic Belfast and a finale at Belfast City Hall, while the challenges will be held at Riddel Hall at Queen's University Belfast (QUB).

It will be the first time Northern Ireland has hosted the IMYB.

Sarah, 16, first asked her parents for bees for her 12th birthday, and since then she has competed in two IMYBs for Northern Ireland.

"I've met people from all over the world, and I've still been in contact with some of them so it's an incredible opportunity not just to educate yourself on other cultures' beekeeping but also just to make friends," she told BBC News NI.

Sarah said she is scared of beekeeping "almost dying out" as she doesn't see many other young beekeepers.

"No offence to beekeepers around but a lot of them are sort of retirement age, I guess because they have the money and the time to do it, but I think you need new blood for new ideas."

Last year Sarah competed as part of the Northern Ireland team at the IMYB in Dubai.

She said: "It was absolutely incredible, probably bit of an odd place for a beekeeping competition since a lot of it is artificial and they import all their bees in.

"But I really enjoyed it, they treated us really well and I guess it was interesting seeing how they do things, even if it is a bit unconventional."

She is hopeful that she will make the team again when the event comes to Belfast next year

"I think it would be an amazing opportunity and even if I didn't get on I would still like to help with the hosting in Northern Ireland because it's my home country, I want to be a part of it."

Blair, who is 17-years-old, competed for Team Scotland at Dubai's IMYB and has 14 hives of his own.

Speaking of the County Antrim competition, he said: "I'm excited, I think it's a great opportunity for everyone. You'll learn so much and you'll meet so many nice people".

Blair described the meeting in Dubai as "amazing" saying he had met people from all over the world who he still speaks to regularly.

He said beekeeping is "good for your mind" and that the community is great at all levels.

Phoebe, 16, is a young beekeeper for Team England and also took part in the IMYB in Dubai.

She said she was "very excited and happy" to take part in the competition in County Antrim.

Speaking ahead of the IMYB in Belfast next year, Phoebe said she was lucky to have the experience in Dubai and "it would be nice to let someone else have a turn".

John Hill, President of the Ulster Beekeepers Association (UBKA), said seeing all the young people at the home nations competition is "very good for beekeeping in general".

"We are certainly trying to encourage young people to become beekeepers and to start off the craft at an earlier age.

"Because young people do tend to absorb the knowledge that is required like blotting paper, they just soak it up and they find it very interesting."

Mr Hill said the home nations meeting is like a "dress rehearsal" for IMYB 2026, which will be a "prestigious event to come to Northern Ireland".

"The idea is that we will put them through the various skills and knowledge that they need to know, and certainly in previous competitions the Northern Ireland team has done extremely well," he said.

Mr Hill said there was "some competition" to bring the IMYB event to Northern Ireland.

"We are very pleased that we managed to win them over to allow it to come here."