Statement received on Tuesday 2nd June from FIBKA
(Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Associations)
“Mr. Tom Ruttle was a member of the Kingdom Association in North Kerry although he had not renewed his membership for 2015. He has been a beekeeper of long standing and highly regarded by all who knew him. In 2001 his was Honorary Secretary of the Co. Limerick Association and a well established beekeeper.
From the information available to FIBKA, Tom managed over 50 colonies ( hives) in a number of Aparies in South Limerick and North Kerry over a long number of years. He was a very approachable and helpful person and was very forthcoming with his help, especially to new beekeepers. Regarding his honey production, with over 50 hives for the past two years he would have expected to harvest an average of 40 pounds of honey per hive from production colonies.”
Statement ends
– The product in the picture is the product which won the award in 2014, please note in the image the Federation of Irish Beekeepers seal and unique producer reference.
– Each producer who enters the awards must provide their Irish food business registration number from their approving body (example EHO/HSE/Dept of Agriculture, etc). In this case the producer submitted their Environmental Health Office approval number.
– The product was also submitted with the Federation of Irish Bee Keepers approval seal, with the unique registration number which is the registered number of T Ruttle, who was a beekeeper in County Limerick.
Please note the following information from the Federation of Irish Beekeepers – www.irishbeekeeping.ie
“The Federation label acts as a seal over the cap of the honey jar and has a number on it and also the Federation’s Logo. The labelling scheme is confined to FIBKA members who pack only Irish honey and whose names and addresses appear on the honey jar.”
– We have also sourced a second sample of the Bee Sensations product, from a different batch number, which was supplied to the retailer a number of months after the awards presentation in October 2014.
– A sample from both batches is now being prepared for laboratory testing for Pollen analysis, which will determine the botanical & geographical origin by Microscopy. Results are expected within 10 working days