When is a Buckfast a Buckfast?
Brother Adam’s Buckfast Bee:
The origin of the Buckfast bee was the
cross-breeding of the dark, leather brown
Apis mellifera ligustica of Northern Italy and the former British variety of the black
Apis mellifera mellifera present before 1920.
Brother Adam had selected his stock for productive power, for being prolific, resistant to diseases, and overwintering qualities. An important remark of his explains the background of his breeding endeavours:
“There is no such thing like a perfect honey bee. She has to be ‘created’ by man.” He never really “completed” his breeding efforts; continually he detected new challenges for bee culture.
His breeding method was based on the idea that
all strains of the European honeybee are closely related and can be traced back to a common origin, a history quite similar to human evolution and that of other mammals. To comments about his ‘foreign’ race of a bee he answered usually with a knowing smile.
The improvement of the Buckfast strain did not end with Brother Adam’s death. Well known breeders are
constantly working at the preservation and the further development of this strain.
The Buckfast bee is especially popular among professional beekeepers. She is docile, prolific and has a very low swarming tendency. Strong colonies achieve good results in honey production and the docile behaviour facilitates a quick and easy working in comparison to other breeds.
The Buckfast Bee today:
The
‘Breeding’ of Buckfast bees is related to the idea of Prof. Armbruster as well as to the practical work of Brother Adam and contains three principle ways of breeding:
Cross-Breeding >> Combination Breeding >> Line-Breeding in order to maintain the results achieved in breeding
This way of breeding is progressive, meaning open for new findings in breeding the honeybee, the genetic make-up of the population as well as genetic engineering. It also supports scientific work relative to the genetics of the honeybee, if the aim is useful for attaining the breeding objective.
The breeding history is
documented in pedigrees. This is a transparent process. Records of
approximately 4000 breeding queens can be found on the website of the European Buckfast Beekeepers Federation. You can also view the breeding results of any particular bee breeder recommended by the Federation.
The Purpose of Breeding:
The intended result of breeding is a population of bees as docile as well as prolific, resistant to diseases, productive and well adapted to their given environment. We want colonies facilitating a quick check and ensuring viable beekeeping.
The aforementioned is achieved by taking into consideration the specific relationship among the strains of honeybees while simultaneously
retaining the genetic diversity of the population.
From:
http://www.beekeeping.ie/html/f_a_q.html
Regards
Reiner
