# Buckfast Queens



## Myron Denny (Sep 27, 2009)

I sent you an email message conserning Buckfast Queens.
Myron Denny


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## sonnypemberton (Sep 10, 2012)

Are they worth all the "buzz"? Anyone had experience with them?


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Sonny - I'd suggest a quick Google search for the Wikipedia page on the Buckfast Abbey Bee. Lots of good info, like the 400 lbs of honey one colony produced, the 30 kilogram per colony average in adverse conditions that Brother Adam faced accomplishing this, and some on the ancestry and characteristics. I'd also suggest Brother Adam's books, Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey, In Search of the Best Strains of Bees, and Breeding the Bee. ISBN's and info are posted on the Wikipedia page.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

sonnypemberton said:


> *Are they worth all the "buzz"*? Anyone had experience with them?


Ferguson is the best "Buckfast" breeders on this side of the pond. His queens are very good. If you are getting them directly from him they are good queens. I would not recommend buying daughter queens off of somebody who bought from him. If you only need a queen or two the cost of getting them isn't going to be worth it, but if you need a dozen or so they are well worth the shipping costs.


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## Myron Denny (Sep 27, 2009)

I do not have any Buckfast colonies or queens, I was just trying to help out. There was a discussion in the past about Buckfast breeders, this is the only breeder info I saw:
Miksa Honey Farms - (352) 429-3447 - Florida [email protected] 
I sent an email last night to advise them of this inquiry with no responce to date.


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## arrowwood (Apr 11, 2012)

i don't personally have any experience with buckfasts, but my local bee club is importing them from ontario
http://michiganbeekeepers.com/
i would like to try some but they are $$$
i am sure that part of the 45$ cost is the international shipping and customs

who is ferguson?


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## Creekside (Dec 29, 2011)

Ferguson Apiaries. They are Buckfast breeders that are located in Hensall, Ontario.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

There a lot of good sites discussing Buckfasts - University of Guelph, Russell Apiaries, R Weaver Apiaries to name a few. Doc Russel asserts that there are no true Buckfasts (as of 2011) on this side of the Atlantic. The daughter queens often diverge from mamma's traits because Brother Adam used a 3-year breeding cycle that is likely not reproduced exactly over here. Read University of Guelph's site.

The thing to realize is that if you have conditions and needs that the Buckfast bees' traits satisfy well and are adapted to, then they will live up to all the "buzz" about them.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

$45.00 is much cheaper than they were a couple of years ago to import. If you are interested in Buckfast you really should read up on them. There is a preservation group in both Denmark and GB, but the Abbey does not license or propagate them anymore so in all reality they don't exist. Brother Adam is dead and with him went the breeding program. Ferguson was the last licensed breeder to import new stock into North America and that was 20 or so years ago... so like it was mentioned above, they really do not exist here in a pure form.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

It is doubtful that anyone other than the licensed Buckfast breeders are actually using his exact breeding methods, let alone if they have same level of isolation of the mating yards that Brother Adam had. Without the complete isolation that he enjoyed, some impurities in the strain are going to occur sooner or later. Good drone flooding and careful selection help, but once all the line is tainted, it takes intensive de-selection to remove an undesirable trait or group of traits. This is not guaranteed to work, nor a quick solution, nor economical for the queen producer.

If several of the people who were personally involved with Brother Adam and his Buckfast bloodline were to get involved with a solid I.I. breeding program and attempt to back-cross toward the original traits, as the Cobeys did with New World Carniolan line of bees (this took only 10 years - excellent progress rate, actually), the hope is there. In fact, a geneticist like Dr. Susan Cobey would be a great asset to such an effort. I'd love to do this myself, as I'm hoping to study under her at U.C. Davis soon, although I'm sure University of Guelph, and perhaps Mr. Ferguson are aware of this and all over it already.

Rumor is that the current "Buckfasts" are not as gentle as brother Adam's original Buckfasts. This could be due to people expecting that 2nd and 3rd generation descendant queens of an actual Buckfast queen should work just as well...they will not. I mention this just to be fair to the breed, as a licensed breeder - produced Buckfast queen would very likely compare quite favorably to a 3rd generation (or later) offspring bred with open mating in a non-flooded, non-isolated mating yard.


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## olympic (Aug 20, 2006)

http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...mating-station-on-dartmoor&highlight=dartmoor


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## beekuk (Dec 31, 2008)

kilocharlie said:


> Rumor is that the current "Buckfasts" are not as gentle as brother Adam's original Buckfasts.


 I don't have experience of the temperament of the Buckfast in USA, but in europe they are just the same regards temperament as in BA day, in fact many of the old lines are still maintained. But i think being too docile (athough good for us) is not always best for the bees. There are many breeders in the co operation.

Last season was not good with regards weather for queen mating, but still managed to get some good mating later in the year on the isolated Dartmoor mating station, with three different lines.

These are some old lines being maintained by one breeder.

http://perso.fundp.ac.be/~jvandyck/homage/elver/pedgr/ped_CD_2010.html

Many others and the Buckfast pedigrees can be seen here......
http://perso.fundp.ac.be/~jvandyck/homage/elver/index.html


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Pete - I apologize...the rumors I heard are for "Buckfasts" (probably stock descended from Buckfasts not using Bro. Adam's methods) here in the U.S.


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## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

does anyone know of a source force for northern raised buckfast queens for summertime ??


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## Myron Denny (Sep 27, 2009)

http://fergusonapiaries.on.ca/
Above is their Website address, it lists an address and phone number.
Let us know if they are still selling Buckfast Queens.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

I talked to Bill in January. He is still selling the Buckfast queens. Just needs to get the old web site updated he said. 

Ferguson Apiaries
Hensall Ontario
519-236-4979


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## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

thank you Myron. I only live 10 miles from Canada customs and I think there was a breeder about 1/2 hour from there. unfortunately the us homeland security [formerly customs] is on a big power trip. they are unpredictable and do not seem to know much. mostly they are interested in the generous government paycheck, at least that a couple of them have told me in private... I was hoping for a northern usa source.


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## Creekside (Dec 29, 2011)

Like Lauri said Bill (Ferguson Apiaries) sells Buckfast Queens. I usually order a few every year. I really like his Bees they are gentle, produce a good honey crop and over winter well. I usually graft from a few of my overwintered Buckfast colonies and open mate them with my local drone population. I have had some real nice queens come out of the mix!


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## Juhani Lunden (Oct 3, 2013)

Myron Denny said:


> I do not have any Buckfast colonies or queens, I was just trying to help out. There was a discussion in the past about Buckfast breeders, this is the only breeder info I saw:
> Miksa Honey Farms - (352) 429-3447 - Florida [email protected]
> I sent an email last night to advise them of this inquiry with no responce to date.


David is usually very busy, but he will answer, eventually. He has a university background and is doing a very good job. It is a huge family bussiness and the queens I got are doing just like they supposed to do. In the book "Queen Rearing Essentials" by Lawrence John Connor there is a chapter about their operation.


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

If you do a check, there are at least 3 breeders in Florida producing Buckfast queens. Dansk is back ordered at least a month.

Dansk, http://www.danskfarms.com/servlet/the-16786/Danish-Buckfast-USA-For/Detail

MIKSA HONEY FARMS
13404 Honeycomb Rd.
Groveland, FL 34736
Phone: 352-429-3447
Fax: 352-429-9133
Email: [email protected]

HONEY LAND FARMS
22146 O'Brien Rd.
Howey in the Hills, FL 34737
Phone: 352-429-3996
Italian, Carniolan


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## lupester (Mar 12, 2008)

My buddy and I ordered buckfast cells from Miksa last year. My buddy who lives more in the country had his go hot. The drones he would be for using mating would be hotter, close to africanized. Mine did not go hot, I live in the suburbs and have more of an Italian drone population in my area. I like them, they had more propolis in the hives but they put up a super of local honey the 1st year.


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

Lauri... "I talked to Bill in January. He is still selling the Buckfast queens. "



Creekside said:


> Like Lauri said Bill (Ferguson Apiaries) sells Buckfast Queens.


You guys just made my year k:

----------------
Juhani - please check your PM


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