>The Buckfast bee, which has become world renowned, is the result of Brother Adam collecting and breeding selected stock from the main races throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

I have been wondering which is worse - the Buckfast bee or varroa.  I decided the Buckfast bee - no contest!

Why?  Because if you have these near you then your breeding programme will be wrecked by all those genes and it is highly likely that you will have severe bad temper if your native bees (A.m.m.) cross with the Buckfast.  I have seen this first-hand where the crosses were worse than the Africanised bees that I handled in Trinidad.  They can meet you at 30 yards or more and follow for at least two hundred yards.

Let's face it, Brother Adam was on an ego trip and bred bees solely for the Buckfast Abbey situation - i.e. the very damp and mild climate of South Devon and to work the heather on Dartmoor nearby.  He claimed - and it is in that it was not true - that the native bee had been wiped out by the Isle of Wight disease; in fact, nothing could be further from the truth and despite his efforts and all the imports over the years, we still have around 50% native genes here in the UK.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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