# Canadian Buckfast? YES!!!



## Kevin M (Aug 11, 2006)

Whats the advantage, if any for Buckfast Honeybees...? Are they a hybred..?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I had Buckfasts for years. They were a bit more frugal than the Italians (but not as much as the Carniolans), they are tracheal mite resistant. They were gentle (up until about 2001), productive and had good timing for a Northern climate.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I like the Buckfast because they are gentle and very productive. Like Italians, they carry a small brood nest into the fall which I feel gives the colony younger bees come spring. Even as I've counted large v. mite numbers on a sticky board, they seem to do quite well.

Further, it's my ignorant preference to bring a northern-raised queen south rather than buy southern-raised queens and bring them north. 

I don't know if there is any real substance to this bias, but it's what I prefer.

Despite stories of "hot" bees, or Buckfast that "turned" hot, I've not had that experience. 

Also, I like a dark bee, as superficial and trivial as that may seem. My last batch of Texas Buckfast were yellow.

Castigate me if you wish, but don't we all have our own personal idiosyncracies?

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## wayacoyote (Nov 3, 2003)

Michael,
To be clear, do you mean by "frugal" that they are frugal about rearing brood? 
Waya


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

"Like Italians, they carry a small brood nest into the fall"

Huh???? I'm lost....


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Waya,
Like the "frugal Gourmet", I think were talking "food" here.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>To be clear, do you mean by "frugal" that they are frugal about rearing brood? 

They cut back to a smaller cluster (than Italians) in the fall and eat less stores over the winter. Basically if you take the middle of the qualitites of the Italians ("Brood rearing fools") and the Carniolans (Frugal) you get about where the Buckfasts are. It's a nice enough compromise for a Northern climate.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

"Like Italians, they carry a small brood nest into the fall"

I think you meant cluster perhaps?? And I'm
fairly sure Italian carry a larger cluster
into winter than many..... way harder on the
stores than NWC I hear.


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

Buckfast bees raise less brood in the fall and tend to pack honey into every spare space in the broodnest late in the year. They then overwinter with a cluster of bees that rarely covers more than 3 frames. Next spring, they are relatively slow to start broodrearing but once pollen and nectar are available, they build up huge colonies very fast.

The most important trait of the pure Buckfast is a decided disinclination to swarm. I've seen pure Buckfast colonies occupy a double brood chamber hive in the spring and get extremely crowded without any sign of swarming. Let me emphasize that the Buckfast bees from Weavers do not show this trait today. This is one reason I am interested in getting a few Buckfast queens from Canada.

Fusion

[ September 09, 2006, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: Fusion_power ]


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## olympic (Aug 20, 2006)

>>Buckfast bees raise less brood in the fall and tend to pack honey into every spare space in the broodnest late in the year. They then overwinter with a cluster of bees that rarely covers more than 3 frames.<<
These are the A.m. anatoliaca characters coming out in the Buckfast strain. Quite different to ''Italians'', also don't forget that the Weaver Buckfasts probably have a good portion of Italian in them, hence the difference between the two strains of ''Buckfast''.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I think that most can agree with the traits of the buckfast. I will not go as far as saying they cluster the same as Italians. My italians brood, cluster, and go through winter, something all together different from buckfast.


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

Grant, thanks for the info. The website had no links concerning queens. Do you just call them? The Buckfasts I'm looking to have are known for low inclination to swarm and taking in huge autumn honey crops. The drawbacks that I've seen are that they tend to propolize heavily.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

My contact was through Rachel at her e-mail above in my first post. My first inquiry came as a referral and I simply e-mailed her through her "hotmail" account. 

She responds quickly and with a wonderful appreciation for the customer. 

Regarding my lack of clarity early, it has been my experience that Buckfast raise a small amount of brood late in the season (where Italians continue to raise lots of brood, some of my ferals shut down completely). 

I wasn't thinking of cluster size, necessarily, and I apologize for not thinking straight. 

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

Are they part of the Ontario queen breeders association?


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

Yes.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

It has been possible to import semen into Canada for a while now, so I would think these are what would be true Buckfast. I would not confuse these with the Weaver Buckfast. Everyone knows what I think of the Weaver Buckfast.


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## Ishi (Sep 27, 2005)

I received a Buckfast Queen from an Ontario breeder 5 or 6 years ago (I cant remember his name) Lives about 20 mi. over the border and brought the queens in to the US to ship.
Anyway he told me that she started as an egg it Buckfast Abby. And he used isolated mating yards. The only bug I ever had with a pedigree.

The hive developed AFB 2 months after insulation, Put them on new foundation and box they came out of it and she lived for 3 ½ years. (Yes she was marked)


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## alleyyooper (Mar 30, 2003)

I took the tour this spring with John as the guide. I was amazed to find they over winter their bees in one single deep box even though their climate is nearly the same as ours two hours west of them. John said they get their breeder stock from Denmark, Said the weaver stock is 20 years old.


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## TwT (Aug 5, 2004)

so the bee's they list for sale isn't the buckfast bee's??? look at the bottom of the page...

http://www.munrohoney.com/products.aspx?cid=Hive


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