Buckfast bee
Encyclopedia
The Buckfast bee is a honey bee
a cross of many species of bees into a stable race developed by "Brother Adam
", (born Karl Kehrle
on 3 August 1898 in Germany
), who was in charge of beekeeping
at Buckfast Abbey
, where the bees are still bred today.
populations were being decimated by Isle of Wight disease
. This condition, later called "acarine" disease, after the acarine parasitic mite
that invaded the bees' tracheal tubes and shortened their lives, was killing off thousands of colonies in the British Isles in the early part of the 20th century.
In 1916, Brother Adam discovered a feral colony which was a hybrid between A.m. ligurica (North Italian) and A.m. mellifera (English). Brother Adam collected the bees and from this began to develop what would come to be known as the Buckfast bee.
which became a mating station for selective breeding. With no other bees within range, Brother Adam could maintain their genetic integrity and develop desirable traits.
Brother Adam investigated various honey bee races and made many long journeys in Europe, Africa and Middle-East searching for pure races and interesting local stocks. The book In Search of the Best Strains of Bee tells about his travels in search of genetic building blocks. Brother Adam imported more bees to cross with his developing Buckfast bee.
Every new bee strain or bee race was first crossed with the existing Buckfast Bee. In most cases, the new desired qualities were passed on to the new generation and the new combination was then made stable with further breeding work. Every crossing with a new race took about 10 years before the desired genes were fixed in the strain. Over seventy years, Brother Adam managed to develop a vigorous, healthy, and fecund honey bee which he christened the Buckfast bee.
The Buckfast bee is popular among beekeepers and is available from bee breeders in Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, and more. Most of the Buckfast bee's qualities are very favorable. They are extremely gentle and highly productive. Brother Adam, in his book, Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey writes that in 1920 they obtained "an average of no less than 192 lbs surplus per colony and individual yields exceeding 3 cwt [approx. 336 lbs]." In the 1986 BBC-affiliated documentary, The Monk and the Honey Bee, more than 400 pounds of honey are reported to have been produced by a single Buckfast colony. According to Brother Adam, "The average annual honey yield over the last thirty years has been 30 kg (66 lb.) per colony. Thus we have a favourable balance compared with the average production in America or in Europe. "
Whilst the above explanation may be true for some strains it is however well known in UK beekeeping circles that visitors to Buckfast have been known to fly home bearing pieces of comb containing freshly laid eggs wrapped in damp cloth which remain viable over 24-48 hrs. Hence it is almost certain that pure Buckfast queens HAVE been raised in the US and then either open mated to produce hybrids or artificially inseminated with Buckfast Drone sperm.
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
a cross of many species of bees into a stable race developed by "Brother Adam
Karl Kehrle
Karl Kehrle was a Benedictine monk, beekeeper, and an authority on bee breeding, developer of the Buckfast bee. "He was unsurpassed as a breeder of bees. He talked to them, he stroked them...
", (born Karl Kehrle
Karl Kehrle
Karl Kehrle was a Benedictine monk, beekeeper, and an authority on bee breeding, developer of the Buckfast bee. "He was unsurpassed as a breeder of bees. He talked to them, he stroked them...
on 3 August 1898 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), who was in charge of beekeeping
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
at Buckfast Abbey
Buckfast Abbey
Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Dedicated to Saint Mary, it was founded in 1018 and run by the Cistercian order from 1147 until it was destroyed under the Dissolution of the Monasteries...
, where the bees are still bred today.
Origin
In the early 20th century beeBee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
populations were being decimated by Isle of Wight disease
Acarapis woodi
Acarapis woodi is a mite that is an internal parasite of honey bees, originally described from the Isle of Wight. Tracheal mites are related to spiders and have eight legs. Acarapis woodi live and reproduce in the tracheae of the bees...
. This condition, later called "acarine" disease, after the acarine parasitic mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
that invaded the bees' tracheal tubes and shortened their lives, was killing off thousands of colonies in the British Isles in the early part of the 20th century.
In 1916, Brother Adam discovered a feral colony which was a hybrid between A.m. ligurica (North Italian) and A.m. mellifera (English). Brother Adam collected the bees and from this began to develop what would come to be known as the Buckfast bee.
Heritage
The Buckfast contains heritage from mainly A.m. ligurica (North Italian), A.m. mellifera (English), A.m. mellifera (French), A.m. anatolica (Turkish) and A.m. cecropia (Greek). The Buckfast bee of today also contains heritage from two African rare and docile African stocks A.m. sahariensis and the A.m. monticola, but not the "Africanized" A.m. Scutellata."History
Brother Adam moved the bees he discovered to the isolated valley of DartmoorDartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
which became a mating station for selective breeding. With no other bees within range, Brother Adam could maintain their genetic integrity and develop desirable traits.
Brother Adam investigated various honey bee races and made many long journeys in Europe, Africa and Middle-East searching for pure races and interesting local stocks. The book In Search of the Best Strains of Bee tells about his travels in search of genetic building blocks. Brother Adam imported more bees to cross with his developing Buckfast bee.
Every new bee strain or bee race was first crossed with the existing Buckfast Bee. In most cases, the new desired qualities were passed on to the new generation and the new combination was then made stable with further breeding work. Every crossing with a new race took about 10 years before the desired genes were fixed in the strain. Over seventy years, Brother Adam managed to develop a vigorous, healthy, and fecund honey bee which he christened the Buckfast bee.
The Buckfast bee is popular among beekeepers and is available from bee breeders in Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, and more. Most of the Buckfast bee's qualities are very favorable. They are extremely gentle and highly productive. Brother Adam, in his book, Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey writes that in 1920 they obtained "an average of no less than 192 lbs surplus per colony and individual yields exceeding 3 cwt [approx. 336 lbs]." In the 1986 BBC-affiliated documentary, The Monk and the Honey Bee, more than 400 pounds of honey are reported to have been produced by a single Buckfast colony. According to Brother Adam, "The average annual honey yield over the last thirty years has been 30 kg (66 lb.) per colony. Thus we have a favourable balance compared with the average production in America or in Europe. "
Buckfast Breeding Program
The qualities and characteristics desired in Brother Adam's breeding can be divided into three groups; Primary, Subsidiary, and 3rd, those that have bearing on management.Primary
Primary qualities are those qualities essential for any maximum honey production.- Fecundity - maintaining at least 9 frames of brood May - July
- Foraging zeal - a boundless capacity for foraging work, close inbreeding to intensify this quality can be counter-productive.
- Resistance to disease
- Disinclination to swarm
Subsidiary
- Longevity
- Wing-power
- Keen sense of smell
- Defensive characteristics
- Hardiness and ability to over winter
- Spring development
- Thrift
- Instinct of self provisioning
- Arrangement of honey stores
- Wax production and comb building
- Gathering of pollen
- Tongue-reach
Qualities which Influence Management
- Good temper
- Calm behavior
- Disinclination to propolize
- No brace combs
- Cleanliness
- Honey capping
- Sense of orientation
Strong Points
- Good honey producer
- Prolific queens (lay many eggs)
- Overwinters well
- Frugal - Low amount of brood during fall (uses less honey stores during winter)
- Packs brood nest with honey for good wintering
- Curtails egg laying during dearths
- Brood rearing ceases during late fall
- Extremely gentle, with low sting instinct
- Low swarm instinct
- Highly Tracheal Mite Tolerant
- Low incidence of chalkbrood and wax moths due to good housecleaning techniques
- Very hygenic
- Build-up rapidly once started
- Produces little propolis/brace comb
- Does well in cold/wet spring
Weak Points
- Low amount of brood during fall
- Less honey or pollen due to erratic spring weather conditions
- Possibility of second generation defensiveness if not requeened
- This is not due to being a "second generation" hybrid. The Buckfast is a mix of many, many generations with many different species. A likely cause of "hot" hives in subsequent generations is the introduction of Africanized bee genetics being introduced either to the mother queen or to the daughter queen via local Africanized drones. Buckfast bees in cooler regions where Africanized bees have not arrived do not have this problem.
American Buckfast vs. U.K. Buckfast vs. Canadian Buckfast
There is a difference from the native U.K. version of the Buckfast bee and the American version of the Buckfast bee (available through R. Weaver Apiaries). Due to import regulations, Buckfast bees have never been imported to the United States. Instead, frozen Buckfast drone sperm has been mailed from Buckfast Abbey to its dealer in Texas. The American Buckfast is reported to be more aggressive than the U.K. Buckfast, possibly due to the fact that it had to be based on a non-Buckfast queen in the United States because no queen could be imported. Canadian Buckfast bees are bred far enough north that there is no chance of having been cross-bred with Africanized breeds (A.m. Scutellata) of the southern regions of North America, a possible major contributing factor to the common aggressiveness exhibited by second generation Buckfasts from the southern United States.Whilst the above explanation may be true for some strains it is however well known in UK beekeeping circles that visitors to Buckfast have been known to fly home bearing pieces of comb containing freshly laid eggs wrapped in damp cloth which remain viable over 24-48 hrs. Hence it is almost certain that pure Buckfast queens HAVE been raised in the US and then either open mated to produce hybrids or artificially inseminated with Buckfast Drone sperm.
External links
- Brother Adam and the Buckfast Bee at the Buckfast Abbey's home page
- Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
- R. Weaver Apiaries U.S. Buckfast Bee Breeder & Supplier
- The Monk and the Honey Bee Documentary of Brother Adam and his creation of the Buckfast bee in association with the BBC.
- BeeWeaver Apiaries U.S. Buckfast Bee Breeder & Supplier
- Draper Bee Apiaries U.S. Buckfast Bee Breeder & Supplier
- Ferguson Apiaries Canada Buckfast Bee Breeder & Supplier
- The Karl Kehrle Foundation
- The Karl Kehrle Foundation List of Breeders
Further Reading
- Brother Adam, Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey, Northern Bee Books, 1987. ISBN 0907908373 ISBN 978-0907908371
- Brother Adam, In Search of the Best Strains of Bees, Second Edition, Peacock Press, 2000. ISBN 0907908063 ISBN 978-0907908067
- Brother Adam, Breeding the Bee, Peacock Press, 1987. ISBN 0907908322 ISBN 978-0907908326
- Zimmer, Raymond, Die Buckfast Biene - Fragen und Antworten, KOCH Imkerei - Technik - Verlag, 1987. ISBN 3-9800797-1-6