ELGON 'Buckfast' Mated Queen
 
When ordering ELGON 'Buckfast' Mated Queens you will receive the following:
 
A marked (yellow for 2022), open mated, ELGON 'Buckfast' Mated Queen in a slow release queen introduction cage. Queens are not clipped and we do not offer this service. If you order more than one queen, they will arrive in separate cages (along with attendant bees).
A5 introduction postcard detailing successful methods for introduction and QR codes for support videos on our YouTube channel. 
Orders will arrive in a ventilated cardboard container. Your consignment will require a signature on arrival.
On placement of order you will receive an email confirmation. On the day of dispatch, you will receive a tracking code which can be tracked at Royal MaiL
 
Queens should be introduced to the beehives as soon as they are delivered. They can be introduced into a colony on the same day as dispatching the queen but fondant tabs should only be opened once the colony is hopelessly queenless. 
 
Here is a link to our YouTube channel on how to successfully introduce queens. We cannot be held liable for any failed queen introductions. Bees are wild creatures and successful introduction is never guaranteed.
 
https://youtu.be/KgzZ7Ik2Msk
 
Mated queen bees are natural creatures and although we can advise you on how to achieve the best introduction success, we cannot be held liable for any failed queen introductions.
 
As African bees in South America developed resistance to Varroa in just 5 years, some Swedish beekeepers came up with the idea of ​​obtaining reproductive material from a variety of African bees that are easy to handle and very similar to European bees (without the extremes defensive behavior of the variety brought to South America).
 
In March 1989 a group of four Swedish beekeepers went to Mount Elgon, Kenya, and collected drone sperm in capillary tubes and small larvae and eggs in small pieces of honeycomb. The purpose of using this breeding material was to increase the vitality and genetic variation of European bees with a "high potency natural resource".
 
The bee breed was the Apis Mellifera Monticola, a dark and robust bee with a relatively good character and therefore easy to handle. Also in 1989 sperm and eggs from crosses between Buckfast bee and Apis Mellifera Sahariensis were brought to Sweden from Holland with the aim of avoiding inbreeding. It was easy to get good pairings with both Buckfast bees and Italian bees and the resulting bee is not a Buckfast bee, strictly speaking, but very similar, with a marked defensive behavior against varroa.