'Donagh Bees' creates a real buzz with natural honey products that include candles and lip balm

And it’s no wonder. As a young boy, growing up in Syria, both his father and grandfather kept bees and hives and taught him ‘everything they knew’.

Those decades and generations of knowledge, as well as Abdul’s love of nature, sustainability and quality, have all merged together to create ‘Donagh Bees,’ a range of locally-sourced honey products deep in the heart of Carndonagh and Inishowen.

Abdul left war-torn Syria seven years ago and arrived in Inishowen one year later. He was a teacher in his home country, with a degree in European History.

On arrival in Ireland, he spent a year in school learning English and completed an engineering course, before taking up employment in a welding company. However, the pull of his love of nature was too strong and Abdul began to hatch a plan that would provide for his family and also help the bees.

"There are three generations of bee keepers in my family,” he told the Journal.

"My grandfather taught me everything about bees and he used to work with them without any protection. He got stung, but would say: ‘Don’t worry, don’t stress – bees can feel your feelings. I was working with the family’s bees all the time growing up, with my father, grandfather and uncle. They then gave me five hives, which I increased to 20.

"But then I had to leave. We travelled from Syria, to Turkey and Greece and then Ireland. I worked in welding, but realised it was not me. And I thought how, as a human, we can live with little. I had a meeting with local people and asked if anyone kept bees. They told me all about Inishowen Beekeepers Association.”

Abdul joined the association and initially placed some hives in his back garden, which were built by his friend, a carpenter. They used the Men’s Shed in Carndonagh as a location to build the hives and Abdul was ‘very happy’. But, the hives were close to the house and noise, so he approached Wilson Moore, who owns a farm in Carndonagh and asked if he could place his hives there.

"Wilson said: “If you fill this place with hives, I don’t mind!”

Abdul, with the help of his friend, then began to make his own hive boxes. The demand for them was so strong that he began selling them, as well as some bees and their honey.

His business has gone from strength to strength and Donagh Bees is a well-known name across the country and beyond. Abdul sells his products via his website not only in Ireland, but also to customers in areas such as Scotland.

“I don’t do any treatments and don’t feed my bees. I just leave it all naturally and people tell me they find such a difference in that. Anyone who buys a jar of honey always comes back.”

There are 10 hives on Wilson’s farms and the two have become firm friends.

Abdul also has hives located in the local hills ‘for the heather’

"The heather honey is the best honey in Ireland, as it is far from chemicals and the bees are always extremely healthy. We have Irish black bees. Honey is so naturally good for you. I always tell people – don’t just put it on tea or toast etc. Take a teaspoon every morning and it has wonderful benefits.”

As the business began to do well, Abdul began thinking aboutexpanding.

"I started to harvest some pollen and some propolis, which I also now sell. I also was always left with large amounts of beeswax and thought I could do something valuable with it. So, I bought some moulds and I am making candles. They’re very popular and everyone loves them. I don’t add anything to them – it is all natural beeswax.”

Abdul also decided to grow organic vegetables.

"At home in Syria, we are all about sustainability. I tried to grow some vegetables in a small patch in the garden, but it was too small, So, I approached Wilson again about placing some polytunnels on the land and he was more than happy with it.”

Abdul grows and sells organic vegetables including cucumber, courgette, tomatoes and much, much more. Again, nothing is added or taken away and he uses the land and nature as much as he can.

While he initially grew the vegetables for his own use and also gave them away, people wanted to pay him and another aspect to the business was born.

Abdul’s love of the natural landscape of Inishowen is evident and his knowledge of bees is impressive.

He tells how, in the summer time, a hive will have 150,000 bees, reducing to around 6,000 in the spring.

He waxes lyrical on the role of the Queen bees and the worker bees and how he manages swarm season with his own bait boxes, which he builds in a shed in Wilson’s farm.

Adbul outlined how the important role of bees is more known now than it was in years previously and he hopes that children growing up today will play a vital role in their protection.

He is continuing to expand his business and hopes to launch beehive air therapy in the future.

From a beginning with just five hives in his garden, Donagh Bees now sells bee pollen, face creams, propolis,heather honey, wildflower honey, spring honey, lip balm, foot balm, honeycomb cuts, candles, beehives and swarm boxes and much more.

Donagh Bee products can be purchased in selected stores and via www.donaghbees.com. You can also follow Donagh Bees on Facebook.