About The Bees

The type of bees we keep are a strain called Buckfast.

The Buckfast bee is a breed of honey bee, a cross of many subspecies and their strains, developed by Brother Adam, who was in charge of beekeeping from 1919 at Buckfast Abbey in Devon.

Buckfast bees are imported all over the world and are renowned for the huge quantities of honey they produce. Not only are they gentle and calm around people, they have good disease resistance and are less likely to swarm when compared to other types.

The down side is the lack of brood in the winter and they are more dependant on spring flowering for their stocks. However, they over winter well and are excellent house keepers, meaning the hive is usually spotlessly clean; hence fewer diseases.

Their calm nature means less smoke is needed for inspection and collection; they rarely sting. However, 2nd and 3rd generations can sometimes produce aggressive bees. They have a keen sense of smell and will forage far and wide to find the best pollen.