Management in the Aqua Dome are doing whatever they can to help protect bees & create public awareness to help save them. Our beautifully landscaped 18 hole miniature Aqua Golf course is home to a large variety of flowering plants, shrubs and trees which are bee friendly and butterfly friendly and our dedicated staff maintain the Aqua Golf without using harmful pesticides or weed killers to maintain an eco friendly, bee friendly environment.
The Aqua Dome recently registered with Kingdom Bee Highway a network of individuals, businesses and organisations who manage bee-friendly habitats, feeding stations & hives in Country Kerry and the aim of Kingdom Bee Highway is to highlight conservation efforts for bee species around Kerry and also build awareness of endangered native bee species. With habitat loss a serious threat to our native bees and with many of them threatened or endangered we want to help ensure the future survival of our bees and other pollinators. Tralee Bay Wetlands which is across the road from the Aqua Dome is a wonderful nature reserve and this year they declared 2019 as the Year of the Bee offering free talks, workshops and presentations on bees by their wildlife and environmental officer Alan Balfe…another excellent initiative to help protect bees.
When the Aqua Golf opened in 2000 management had the foresight to plant lots of pollinator friendly shrubs, flowers, trees and plants which provide necessary pollen and nectar for local bees. Since then these shrubs and plants have grown and matured and are now providing food & shelter for a wide variety of local bees. Green Gardens a locally based landscape company has been involved in the maintenance of the Aqua Golf for the past 20 years and they also planted more bee & butterfly friendly shrubs last week. The Rose Hotel which is only 200 meters from the Aqua Dome have 2 bee hives on their roof top and we are delighted to be able to provide food for these bees along with a variety of other bumblebees and wild bees. Frequently one can hear the gentle symphony of humming bees as they buzz along the shrubs and plants in the Aqua Golf carrying pollen from one blossom to another. Another example of a fantastic local initiative is Ballygarry House Hotel set up a bee apiary on the hotel grounds some months ago with the hives surrounded by a wildflower meadow. These are excellent local initiatives which help both the bees and the environment and also provide a delicious supply of locally produced organic honey for their guests.
While insects play a role in pollination, most pollination in Ireland is carried out by bees. Bees feed on pollen and nectar from flowers and need the right kinds of flowers the whole time they are active, from March all the way through September. Just like us, pollinators need food and a place to live. They also need plenty of safe nesting habitats: long grass, bare earth and crevices in dry stone walls or wood, all of which should be free from pesticides. To this end, the Aqua Dome has a designated areas reserved for natural wildlife by the back pond and the top of the cave which are left untouched. There are many home grown remedies online for getting rid of weeds which are not harmful to the environment using only vinegar, salt and hand washing soap so check them out!
Today we were thrilled to be presented with a beautiful hand made bee-box and bird-box for our Aqua Golf made by local Tralee man Tony Moriarty who is also grand dad to one of our lifeguards Jenny Fox. He also participates in the Tralee Men’s Shed so thank you Tony – we love our bee-box and bird-box. The Tralee Mens Shed make lots of fabulous bee boxes – another local initiative that helps protect our bees!
Check out these bee friendly links which might inspire you to take action and help protect one of our worlds most valuable assets 🐝🐝🐝.
Earth Day what you need to know about bees and how you can help to protect them
Pollinators.ie how to become more pollinator friendly
Buzz about Bees 30 fantastic garden flowers for bees
Swarms.ie how to deal with swarms
Kingdom Bee Highway join a network of individuals, businesses and organisations who manage bee-friendly habitats, feeding stations & hives in Country Kerry
Take the pesticide pledge and stop the use of harmful pesticides
Remember to stop and think before spray your next pesticide or weed killer and ask yourself how many bees, insects, birds, wildlife, rivers, fish, humans will this spray effect?
#lovetheplanet #lovetheenvironment #loveourbees
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#sendmeonmywildatlanticway Management in the Aqua Dome invite Ryan Tubridy to broadcast from the Aqua Dome in August to highlight positive environmental changes being made by one of Irelands best loved family Waterworlds on the Wild Atlantic Way in the hope we can inspire and encourage other businesses to do the same !