Live Bees
Black Cat Honey
603-392-0008 info@blackcathoney.com |
Starting in 2006 we have been switching over to Buckfast Bees. We have found they are healthier, gentler, more disease resistant and all around better then the Italians, Russians, Carniolan and for New England any other hybrid out there including Midnite, All Star, Starline, Minnesota, or "Uncle Joes".. They make being all organic and natural a whole lot easier.. Today the main Buckfast varieties have influences mostly from A.m. ligustica (North Italian), A.m. mellifera (English), A.m. mellifera (French), A.m. anatolica (Turkish) and A.m. cecropia (Greece). for more info on them please see: http://www.buckfast.org.uk/site.php?use=bees |
Well, strictly speaking, it is a strain of bee that is bred at the place of Buckfast in England, and bee colonies that are headed by honey bee queens from Buckfast. Those queens should be bred from colonies that have reached a minimum standard for what can be labeled Buckfast. You follow the Buckfast principles when you combine different established Buckfast varieties, for further stability and progress. You also follow the Buckfast principles when you try out new strains in combinations with the main Buckfast strain, like is done in for example Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden as well as of course at Buckfast Abbey. Today, strains with possible varroa resistant traits are of special interest. Strains that at the same time are possible to make combination bees from that are easy to handle. Under trial today among Buckfast breeders are A.m. monticola (East African mountains), A.m. sahariensis (Marockoan oases), A.m. meda (Iran) and A.m. lamarckii (Egypt). One maybe interesting strain that has not been tried out yet is the mountain variety of A.m. unicolor (Madagaskar). The possible A.m. mellifera strain(s) in eastern Russia and northern China are other possible interesting strains for combination breeding.
What makes a Buckfast breeder?
The basic premise is that you have to be able to listen to what your bees tell you. Which bee colonies are giving the result you want? Or are closest to it? If you can discern differences between your bee colonies, you can become, not only a Buckfast breeder, but also a successful bee breeder. Actually it is a necessity. An excellent choice for the Northern States and the East Coast Region.