Many beekeepers have heard about the peacefulness of this breed. Buckfast has a number of positive qualities, one of which is high honey productivity. Bees produce more honey than other Western European breeds. And this invariably attracts owners of both small and large farms.
The content of the article
- 1 The story of
- 2 Advantages and disadvantages
- 3 Appearance
- 4 Features of life
The story of
The history of the breed began in the middle of the XNUMXth century in the English abbey of Buckfast, where a young monk, keen on beekeeping, was actively engaged in the selection of bees… Brother Adam’s contribution to the development of the craft is enormous! He died in 1996, at the age of 98, but until recently he was engaged in breeding the “ideal” bee breed. His new take on the work of breeding these honey insects completely changed modern beekeeping.
Until the age of 80, Brother Adam actively traveled the world in search of new subspecies of the honey bee. Through the efforts of the monk, accurate descriptions of wild bees from different regions of the world appeared in encyclopedias.
He believed that “Only the content of hybrids with the so-called combination of the most preferred commercial traits of different races and populations gives the bee breeding the right direction”… The monk is not only the author of a new idea for breeding, but also the method of keeping insects.
Advantages and disadvantages
The Buckfast bees known to us were obtained by crossing several Western European breeds, primarily Italian with dark forest bees. Mixing with the Greek breed was carried out in 1960. And in the early seventies, Buckfast bees were crossed with Anatolian bees (Turkey). A little later, Macedonian and Egyptian breeds were involved in the work.
The main goal of the selection is to combat the tracheal mite, which almost completely destroyed the population of English bees in the middle of the XNUMXth century.
The advantages of the new breed:
- resistance to tracheal mites;
- resistance to humid climates;
- medium swiftness;
- peacefulness and calmness;
- high honey productivity;
- fast switching between honey plants if necessary (good flora migration);
- excellent fertility of queens – up to 2 eggs per day in almost constant mode;
- full compliance with the requirements of industrial beekeeping.
The disadvantages include:
- variability;
- poor resistance to frost;
- low content of propolis in hives.
It should also be emphasized that this breed is not adapted to the harsh climatic conditions of some Russian regions..
Although it has become fashionable these days to keep exotic imported bees, an important fact should not be overlooked: any breed is a consequence of natural selection dictated by the climatic conditions of a particular area.
If the apiary is located in the northern regions of the country with long winters, the southern breeds are not suitable for keeping, since they are not adapted to the accumulation of a large mass of feces in the intestines. In the prolonged winter, such insects may simply die.
Another important feature is the quality of the queens. When keeping Buckfast, it is necessary to carefully approach the withdrawal or acquisition of a queen bee, since lower-quality females lead to degeneration after 2-3 generations – the bees become aggressive.
You can buy a barren queen bee for about 30-40 euros. The fruitful “queen” costs fabulous money – up to 600 and more euros. The best breeders specializing in this breed are localized in Germany.
The very process of hatching the queens is particularly scrupulous – most of the females are culled. About 2-3% of individuals from one brood are sold as breeding stock on the market.
Appearance
Buckfast is slightly darker in color than the “prototype” – yellow Italian bees, but their body is not brown. The uterus has a narrow and elongated body, which is very different, for example, from the Ukrainian steppe.
Since the breed has a high variability, the appearance of insects will differ slightly depending on the selection characteristics of a particular breeder (there are several breed lines). That is, it all depends on what kind of insects the further crossing takes place with. We can say that Buckfast bees are not so much a breed as a way of breeding and crossing insects.
Features of life
The peacefulness of insects is amazing! When inspecting the hives, a protective suit, gloves, and even the absence of a mask will not lead to dire consequences for the beekeeper. This is due to the fact that when the lid is opened, the bees themselves go to the lower part of the nest. In most cases, you won’t need a smoker either.
It is not necessary to divide the nests, make layering, select brood frames. Insects practically do not fall into a swarming state. The main goal of the beekeeper is to quickly strengthen and build up families.
In summer, as with other bee breeds, it is necessary to install additional buildings and stores in time so as not to lose part of the bribe. Buckfast are hardy and capable of working on large tracts of honey plants.
The uterus lives only in the lower body, never rising up. The larger the hive and the stronger the family, the more actively it sows. Worms heap, sowing frames completely – from one bar to another. Perga is always located on separate frames. Insects rationally use the provided combs and hive space. All honey will be accumulated in the superstructures and stores.
For the maintenance to be successful, when buying bees, it is necessary to clarify which breed line is purchased from the breeder. Basically, the differences relate to the characteristics (period) of honey collection and resistance to dangerous infections.
There are bees with early, medium and late hatching of young animals. The queens can worm until late autumn or stop sowing at the end of August. All this directly affects the honey yield.
Ideally, a line is chosen that can provide good honey harvest, depending on climatic conditions and the development of local melliferous plants. Bees can focus both on late bribe and on harvesting honey in the spring.
For keeping in cold climates, sharply different from English, careful insulation of bee houses will be required… However, even in this case, it will not work to breed Buckfast bees in the northern regions.
Important: the breed requires constant protection from Varroa mites! But at the same time, bees are not susceptible to the spread of nosematosis, acarapidosis and ascospherosis.
Once again, we remind you that there are no universal tips and recommendations, since even in one region, the conditions for keeping bees can differ within the next 10-20 kilometers. Beekeeping is always a creative process that requires maximum thoughtfulness from the beekeeper. Only observation, awareness of the general principles of beekeeping and constant practice leads to success.
In conclusion, I would like to say that with all the advantages of maintaining a Buckfast apiary, beekeepers should not forget – only purebred breeding will help preserve the advantages of a hybrid. Otherwise, the bees change, losing some of their characteristics, over the next one to two years.
