Hi Aaron

The trip of brother Adam that you mention was an early one.

There was another one later, during which he was given an unspecified number
of scutellata queens. I personally believe that he accepted the gift
gracefully but did not even return them to the UK. I do not think he was
impressed with any of the characteristics that he saw. I have had
confirmation of my belief from other sources. There is some mention of this
event in the video "the monk and the honey bee".

He did bring back some queens of A M Monticola on the second trip and I
believe that some genes from this species, particularly the darker mountain
strain, were incorporated into the Buckfast strain.

Bro Adam was a brilliant queen breeder, very dedicated to his purpose.
His goal was to breed a bee for heather honey production on Dartmoor.
He achieved his aim to a superlative degree. Unfortunately the needs of the
rest of the UK are not met by the Buckfast strain apart from a small region
in the south west corner of the country.

Buckfast bees are popular wherever the weather suits them, They need warmer
weather than nature provides in the northern part of the UK.

Regards From:- Dave Cushman, G8MZY
Beekeeping and Bee Breeding, http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman
IBList Archives, http://website.lineone.net/~d.cushman