There has been several postings about Buckfast bees here lately.
I believe some things need to be straitened out.
 
First the Buckfast bee is not an old race that is kept with certain
characteristics,
but an ongoing project to supply the commercial beekeepers with the best
possible bee. That is regardless of  where the genetic material is coming from.
There has been both Saharensis and Monticola mixed into Buckfast from
Africa, and genetic material from many other parts of the world. But not the
Scutellata that causes all the problems in America.
 
So we can't talk about Buckfast the same way we do about the true races!
Buckfast bees in Sweden is not the same as in the US. What's more, there
are many different lines of Buckfast in the countries in Europe where beekeepers
 
are working with breeding them. Those lines have different behaviour and many
lines are kept pure through the years to use in the future in crosses with other
 
lines to continue the process. I have Buckfast lines that are very different
from
each other, and are using crosses between the lines to get heterosis effect and
better vitality. We still have genetic material in Sweden from the first imports
 
from Buckfast Abbey in the 60's, maintained through careful planning and
crossing among a number of queen breeders here. The key to this is co-operation
between breeders and exchange of material. This is probably the most important
thing of all if we shall get any further with bee breeding.
 
When it comes to queen quality and superseedure that has been mentioned here;
You get what you pay for.
There is a reason the price for a queen is double in Europe compared to the US.
No one can put the same time and effort in producing good queens if they only
get
half the price for them.... There is a different attitude and a much larger
scale
of the operations in the "new world" than over here... not saying we are better
in any way, just do it differently. Looking more to quality than quantity I
guess.
 
When there probably isn't that many different lines of Buckfast imported to the
US,
the queen producers will have a problem with the mating to avoid inbreeding.
The easiest way to get past that is to cross with another race. For example a
Buckfast
queen is mated with Italian or Carnica drones, and the offspring is gentle and
productive. I have done it myself with good result. The problem comes when
that queen supersede and the second generation is only 50% Buckfast. Then
we get those bees that can behave somewhat unexpected....
 
But as long as you have a pure Buckfast queen mated with Buckfast drones
they will be as gentle as anything else even when superseeding! If not, you
have to ask yourself if that queen breeder knows what he's doing......
 
--
Regards
 
P-O Gustafsson, Sweden.  commersial honey producer
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