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The Buckfast bee, a meticulously bred hybrid by Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey, is celebrated for its exceptional strengths in the world of beekeeping. Known for its gentle temperament, the Buckfast bee is a favourite among beekeepers for its ease of management and reduced likelihood of aggressive behaviour. One of its key strengths lies in its impressive honey production capabilities, making it a reliable source for beekeepers seeking high yields of quality honey.
Beyond its amiable nature and prolific honey production, the Buckfast bee exhibits resilience to various environmental conditions. This adaptability allows it to thrive in diverse climates, making it a versatile choice for beekeepers around the world. Moreover, the Buckfast bee displays notable resistance to pests and diseases, contributing to its overall hardiness and suitability for sustainable beekeeping practices. As a result, the Buckfast bee stands out as a well-rounded and resilient choice for beekeepers seeking a harmonious balance between productivity, manageability, and adaptability.
BUCKFAST
Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee which is a subspecies of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera). Is the most common subspecies of bees, through its adaptability to different climates. Introduced in the United States (1859), Australia (1862), Finland (1866), New Zealand (1880). In China, specially selected, is used for the intensive production of royal jelly (its productivity is higher than 1600% of not selected bees).
The Ligustica bee, commonly known as the Italian bee, stands out for its impressive strengths in the realm of beekeeping. Renowned for its exceptional foraging capabilities, these bees efficiently collect nectar and pollen, resulting in prolific honey production. Their adaptability to various climates makes them a versatile choice for beekeepers worldwide. Ligustica bees are prized for their gentle temperament, making them easier to manage during hive inspections and honey harvesting. Known for their strong colony buildup, they excel in population expansion during favorable seasons. The combination of efficient foraging, adaptability, and a docile nature positions the Ligustica bee as a preferred and reliable choice for beekeepers seeking high honey yields and ease of management.
LIGUSTICA
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The Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica, Pollmann) is a subspecies of the western honey bee. The Carniolan honey bee is native to Slovenia, southern Austria, and parts of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Known for its adaptability to varying climates, Carniolan bees thrive in both cool and warm conditions, making them well-suited for a wide range of geographic locations. One of their outstanding strengths lies in their ability to forage efficiently in cooler temperatures, ensuring consistent activity even in early spring and autumn.
Carniolan bees are renowned for their calm and gentle demeanour, making them easier to work with for beekeepers. Their docile nature is particularly advantageous for those who seek a less aggressive and more manageable bee species. Another notable strength is their frugality with winter stores, allowing them to conserve resources during the colder months.
Carniolan bees are recognised for their exceptional build-up of colony populations in the spring, contributing to strong and productive hives. These qualities, coupled with their resistance to certain diseases, mark the Carniolan bee as a resilient and reliable choice for beekeepers aiming for sustainable and successful hive management.
CARNIOLAN
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PRIMORSKY Queen Bees (Apis Mellifera Sossimai x Buckfast). In the Primorsky region, on the eastern coast of Siberia overlooking the Pacific Ocean (capital: Vladivostok), the honey bee was not present in nature, but the Cerana, the natural host of the Varroa mite. Towards the end of the 19th century, the settlers came from the European part of the Russian Empire, particularly from Ukraine. These brought with them colonies of bees, which presumably soon came into contact with Varroa mites from the nearby colonies of Cerana. However, varroa was only detected in this region in 1952. It can therefore be assumed that long-term natural selection has occurred here for resistance to varroa, as during most of this period no treatments were carried out against varroa. varroa.
Hygienic behavior can have a positive impact on a colony's ability to control the Varroa population. The USDA-ARS Bee Lab in Baton Rouge compared Russian bee colonies to other domestic lines and found that Primorski exhibited hygienic behavior at a much higher level (69% vs 37%). It was also observed that in the anti-varroa funds, colonies of Russian bees showed numerous Varroa mites with missing appendages and bite marks.
PRIMORSKY
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As African bees in South America developed resistance to Varroa in just 5 years, some Swedish beekeepers came up with the idea of obtaining reproductive material from a variety of African bees that are easy to handle and very similar to European bees (without the extremes defensive behavior of the variety brought to South America).
In March 1989 a group of four Swedish beekeepers went to Mount Elgon, Kenya, and collected drone sperm in capillary tubes and small larvae and eggs in small pieces of honeycomb. The purpose of using this breeding material was to increase the vitality and genetic variation of European bees with a "high potency natural resource".
The bee breed was the Apis Mellifera Monticola, a dark and robust bee with a relatively good character and therefore easy to handle. Also in 1989 sperm and eggs from crosses between Buckfast bee and Apis Mellifera Sahariensis were brought to Sweden from Holland with the aim of avoiding inbreeding. It was easy to get good pairings with both Buckfast bees and Italian bees and the resulting bee is not a Buckfast bee, strictly speaking, but very similar, with a marked defensive behavior against varroa.
ELGON
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Murray McGregor on the make up of genetics in the UK Mated Jolanta Lines:
'Its more complex than that. Bottom line is that our stock is 'good bees' based rather than a particular strain. MUST meet her criteria before Jolanta allows them into the unit and very quick to evict again if there is something she does not like (ie..more than 3 cells of chalk in the hive? Offski.... back to the field to work.)
We have a preference for carnica derived bees in our own unit, but Jolanta maintains a range of breeder queens (c50) and we can supply Carnica or Buckfast...grafted from such queens but open mated to a spectrum of our selected drones (plus a few interlopers...cannot be avoided).
We are strong believers in diversity of genetics in the mix to give the population resilience and vigour. So..we can supply any of these types of queen.
Demand splits down roughly at 60% carnica, 40% Buckfast. Probably reflects the north and west concentration of demand where the bees that thrive in marginal conditions are more popular...if our base was more SE England I think the Buckfast carnica proportion would reverse. Amm is mainly popular in the 1's and 2's market...its 5% of the queens but probably more than 30% of the customers.'
JOLANTA
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Top class bees and company. Easy to contact and very reliable service. First class bees bought before and will buy again soon.
John Campbell
We've tried many queens over the years but we always come back to Buckfast. The F1 Buckfast, VSH and UK mated are all very similar in quality and will produce exceptional results in your beehives. You can't go wrong with Buckfast
Our favourite queens are the buckfast hybrids
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Never a fault with the queens we buy from Black Mountain Honey, amazing quality queens with an excellent temperament, laying pattern. Wouldn’t go anywhere else!
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