I was interested in trying some buckfast queens this past year but learned
that just because the queen is resistant to the tracheal mite says nothing
for varroa, and that there is a good possibility of purchasing it with the
queen.
Correct me if I'm wrong, David.
>I wrote recently regarding Ontario Buckfast breeders, and got swamped for my
>trouble!!
>        To all the folks who wrote asking for information, I just cannot
>write to you all individually to give you the info and answer all the
>questions, if would take forever. So I am sending this to the whole list. If
>I should miss a point or two, then please e-mail again. For those without
>interest in what we are doing I apologise for taking up your time.
>
>Ontario Bee Breeding
>        There are 3 main Buckfast breeders in Ontario. One in the NW, one in
>the SW and one in the SE of Ontario.
>        Each breeder is licenced by Buckfast Abbey and each pays a Royalty
>to the Abbey on each Queen sold. They are visited on a regular basis, and
>each receives imports of new stock. Each of these breeders is required to
>maintain ISOLATED breeding areas as part of their licence, and can supply
>CLOSED mated queens.
>        The average price of queens is as follows:-
>                Closed mated Buckfast       $35.00 CDN
>                Open mated  Buckfast        $15.00 CDN
>Some breeders will supply Cells only  at  $3.00
>                        and Virgin Queens    at  $6.00
>Needless to say cells really only work for collection customers, and virgins
>are difficult to introduce.
>
>
>               BUCKFAST BREEDERS
>      SE Ontario  Barry Davies
>                         RR#1 Seeley's Bay.  ON. CA
>                         K0H 2N0
>                         (613) 387-3171
>
>      NW Ontario  Rick Neilson
>                         RR#1 Stratton.  ON. CA
>                               P0W 1N0
>                           (807) 487-2387
>
>      SW Ontario   Paul Montoux
>                          RR#1 Hagersville.  ON. CA
>                                N0A 1H0
>                             (905) 768-5530
>
>I make no claims or promises regarding the above.As far as I am aware, none
>are on thec Bee-l or the Web.
>
>To use Ontario queens would require a slightly different approach than
>usually practiced. We make increase this year, do not expect a crop in the
>first year, but then have really big hives in the second year. Often the
>split queen is old and is replaced at the same time, and a big hive can then
>be split 3 or even 4 times. This way production hives are not disturbed, and
>less hives are broken down to make increase. Our first queens are usually
>available the first or second week in June, before this date drones are in
>short supply and mating can be erratic.
>        There are no problems exporting bees to the U.S in fact I personally
>have been exporting Queens all summer long.
>        There are a number of breeders who are using Buckfast as a means of
>achieving Tracheal Mite resistant bees, in fact we are one. We use Buckfast
>mothers and mate to our Italians. This combination produces the ideal bee
>for the climate in our area, hard working, early starter, quick spring build
>up, works even when it's cold and wet. We are unable to use the words
>Buckfast in our description or advertising as we are not licenced.
>        I hope this will answer the questions, I would recomend that you
>give us a try next year, we do have good bees and care about what we are
>doing!!!!
>
>
>    ****************************************************
>   * David Eyre          9 Progress Drive, Unit 2,  *
>   * The Beeworks,    Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6H1. *
>   * [log in to unmask]      705-326-7171 *
>   * http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks           *
>   *  Agents for: E H Thorne &  B J Sherriff UK. *
>   ****************************************************
>
>