Coleene,
I thought sure someone would answer your inquiry about Brother Adam and
Buckfast, but since nobody did, I will comment broadly on his creation of the
Buckfast hybrid.

Prior to the loss of the great majority of bees in England by acariosis
during and shortly after World War I, almost all bees in England were apis
mellifera mellifera.
These bee losses were not seen in the rest of Europe where the principal
races used
were primarily Carniolan over most of Europe and Italians around the
Mediterranean Sea.  Brother Adam extensively investigated all of the races
and strains of bees in all parts of Europe, mid east, and much of Africa over
the ensuing 50 years.  Trying
to "make" a bee suitable for the English climate and also a little more
gentle than apis mellifera mellifera, and who was not subject to the Acarine
disease (now we know it was the Tracheal Mite), the Buckfast, while primarily
Italian, has numerous other lines included in the breeding including
Carniolan and "hold-on-to -your-hat", even some apis mellifera adansonii, now
named by Ruttner in 1981, apis mellifera scutellata, the dreaded Africanized
Honey Bee.

In spite of Brother Adam's work and dedication, the Buckfast hybrid has
certainly
not been adopted by most English beekeepers, but has enjoyed perhaps more
success
in the U. S.  It is a nice bee, but I feel the Carniolan is a far better bee
for our VERY
EARLY (and almost ONLY) Maryland nectar flow starting near April 15th and
ending
usually by May 31st.  The Buckfast is much slower in building an early
population
than the Carniolan, and even some strains of Italians.

I hope I have helped with this non technical discussion of Brother Adam and
"his" Buckfast.  You should read his books as they are quite detailed and
most interesting.
I met him in England and talked with him for about a half hour just 2 years
before his death, but his deafness and his native German lineage made our
conversation
a little difficult; but our walk through his apiary was exciting and his
handling of the bees and the colonies had few equals.

George Imirie