Peter Edwards wrote: > four and a half tons, 10080lbs from 240 colonies is only 42 lbs per colony - > not much of a recommendation for the Buckfast bee? I was always under the impression that the part of England where the Abbey is located is not a very good beekeeping region. I learned many years ago: "even a poor beekeeper will do well in a good location but ... even a great beekeeper will do poorly in a poor location" Furthermore, if a lot of those 240 colonies are mating nucs, that would pull the average down. from their website: > The ongoing objective of bee breeding at the Abbey is to produce bees that are more resistant to diseases, especially to Varroa, and ultimately more productive. pb ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************