Hello,
        I made two splits this past summer and used swarm cells from My
Buckfast hives. These hives are as gentle as all of My other Buckfast hives.
I love the Buckfast bees, I currently have nine Buckfast hives and almost
always can work these bees without smoke(only using smoke to get them out of
the way when I put the boxes back together). Maybe Your Buckfast virgin
queens mated with another race, that could cause the meanness. I don't think
a race of bees should be pronounced "bad" because of a few incidents. All
races of bees available for sale do well, it is mostly personal preference
that determines what kind of bee You buy (except in extreme weather
conditions).And while We are on the subject, awhile back someone said they
were not going to buy Weavers' Buckfast bees because Weaver was in the area
that currently has AHB. That is not true, The Texas Apiary Inspector Dr
P.Jackson of Texas A&M, spoke at The Mass Beekeepers Meeting, and told Us
that the AHB territory is nowhere near Weavers.
Garry Libby
Boston, USA
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