"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."


Buckfast genes in your area may perhaps be a problem, Chris. But here in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, ..., we are still very pleased with brother Adams buckfastbee (except carnolian breeders, of course): softness, swarm inertia, strong development, much honey, ...

Ghislain De Roeck,
Belgium.

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