In a message dated 97-06-01 13:21:20 EDT, you write: << Also, this makes no sense. Any Buckfasts I have seen are very uniform in colouring. I will leave it to more expert beekeepers and Buckfast owners to take it from there as far as the breeding goes. I think your "Buckfast" queen may have died or swarmed and what you have is a queen that has been made by the bees and has been mated by some non-Buckfasts bees. Anyone else care to comment?.. >> I have got to say thay I for one like the Buckfasts and am having good luck with them. Who cares what race or breed a bee is -once the hive turns nasty requeen and eliminate the aggravation. After all a good craftsman give himself every possible advantage and a mean hive will make you less thorough in your management an inspection. I have heard the more experianced say they get great crops from aggressive bees but I like working without gloves and keeping bees in town.