Hi Debbie and all,
 
AFAIK, The native British bee is said to be *extinct, at least as it once
existed.  Back in the 1920's there was the so-called "Isle of Wight"
epidemic and supposedly all the native bees in England succumbed.  It was a
time of huge colony losses.  The "disease" was likely the same thing as
tracheal mites, which we have had to deal with here in NA for several years
now.
 
It would seem probable that some British native stock made its way to North
America, and Canada especially, before the disease hit, but I have never
heard comments or info about this.  Indeed, an interesting possibility.
 
Once the British bees fairly well disappeared, a lot of Italian and French
stock was imported to England, and those survived eventually, notably the
dark grey or black European bee, Apis mellifera mellifera or A. m. carnica,
and the Italian Apis mellifera ligustica.  However, some contend that the
original British bee is still with us today in certain areas of the UK, and
it can be identified by physical characters.
 
If you want to find out more about the British native bees, look for the
BIBBA *British Isles Bee Breeders Assn.* home page.  There is a great deal
of related information there.  One of the founders of the BIBBA (can't
remember the name, & now deceased) recently wrote a fascinating book called
HONEYBEES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.  The work covers well the history of
beekeeping with the native bees, and also examines the anecdotal/empirical
evidence that the British bee does in fact still exist in some areas.  It
has a thorough treatment of the British bee's characteristics, color,
behavior, etc.  It is very interesting reading.  I don't remember them
mentioning Canada in there (solely the British Isles), but maybe they folks
at BIBBA could give you some further info.
 
The British bee had (has) a small, compact nest compared to the more
prolific races, flies at lower temperatures, is brown, as you mentioned,
and has other unique qualities of behavior and appearance.
 
I hope you can find out more about this subject.  I would be interested to
know more if you do. By the way, you can keep the Buckfasts around if you
want.  Mating is not something you can control, and the drones from many
colonies (some distance away) are likely to be lurking around anyway.
 
The Buckfast as bred by Br. Adam does contain a certain amount of native
British blood, I believe, so some of the qualities of the Brit bee have
actually been propagated in that form.  The Buckfasts are much less prone
to infestation by tracheal mite than others, however, which is a big plus.
 
I just went through 9 B'fast colonies this afternoon.  I was pleased but
not surprised to find that they were not preparing to swarm, even though
most of the "mongrel" bees in the other hives are really in a swarming mood
lately.  I find the Buckfast remarkably consistent and a great deal more
hardy than other bees.
 
Well good luck and do fill me in if you get some interesting info on this.
 
Comments & corrections solicited.  What say, British BEE-L'ers??
 
best regards,
 
Joel Govostes       Freeville NY     USA