Where Do Our Queens Come From?

Our Breeders and Suppliers
All my queen suppliers are thoroughly tested in my own apiaries. Each year, I retain around 10% of these queens for continued use, observing their performance first-hand. I also share a few with fellow beekeepers to gather wider feedback. The results never cease to amaze me. The honey production, calm temperament, and overall quality consistently exceed expectations.

Beekeepers who use my queens often comment on how gentle the colonies are. Most wear only nitrile gloves and use nothing more than a light water spray with a touch of pheromone distractor. The consistent positive results make beekeeping a truly enjoyable, fascinating, and rewarding pursuit, whether as a hobby or profession.

The Bees
My primary strain is the Carniolan, sourced years ago from several Slovenian breeders, one of whom supplied Brother Adam, the creator of the renowned Buckfast bee. These are not historical connections but ongoing relationships. I’ve met generations of these families, from great-grandfathers to great-grandchildren, all continuing the legacy of dedicated bee breeding.

My next focus is the Buckfast. You likely know its history, but it’s worth noting that not all Buckfast lines are of equal quality. The term F1 is frequently misused. Producing a genuine F1 requires mating from purebred queens originating from exclusively Buckfast populations - such as island-bred queens from Buckfast Queens of Denmark. These high-quality breeder queens, often priced around €550 each and selling out quickly, represent the gold standard. Over the years, I’ve invested in several of these to maintain the integrity of my lines.

Our own Buckfast queens are produced in isolated breeding stations to ensure controlled mating. We prepare the best drone-producing colonies about 40 days before the queens are ready to mate, and the top queen-producing colonies are carefully selected. This combination allows us to offer genuine F1 Buckfast queens to our customers in the UK. This means Queens bred with precision, care, and genetic clarity.

Experience and Learning
With over 24 years in beekeeping, I’ve dedicated much of that time to helping others begin their own journeys through courses, talks, and mentoring. I’ve also undertaken extensive training myself, including several BBKA exams up to General Husbandry level. One memorable exam taking place on a very windy, wet day atop the cliffs near Dover, examined by Margaret Thomas and Pam Hunter.

Continual learning has always been central to my beekeeping philosophy. I’ve studied under experts such as Ken and Dan Basterfield NDB (diseases), Graham Royal NDB (microscopy), Bob Smith NDB, and Michael Collier (queen breeding and artificial insemination). Each has added invaluable insights to my understanding. However, as every beekeeper knows, the greatest lessons are learned inside the hive itself.
And, of course, with bees, you never stop learning. Fresh back from Apimondia in Copenhagen, I’m reminded again of how vast and inspiring this world of beekeeping truly is.