Discover the Essence of Buckfast USA

The history of Buckfast USA, where quality meets tradition in every hive.

Buckfast USA was born out of a desire to breed and maintain Buckfast Honeybees in the USA.

In 2009, during a visit to Miksa Honey Farms in Groveland, Florida I was speaking to Linda Miksa when she mentioned that she had a documentary called “The Monk and the Honeybee”. I was trying to decide which line of honeybee I wanted to work with and for some reason she was inclined to think that I would enjoy the movie.

Her intuition was right. I went home with the VHS tape in-hand and spent the evening learning about Brother Adam and the Buckfast Line that he had developed.

I was intrigued by the history of the Buckfast Bee and couldn’t wait to experience what it was like to work with this gentle and productive honeybee.

At that time, the Miksa’s had two separate lines of Buckfast Queens available. Ontario Buckfast and Danish Buckfast. After some research, I was drawn to the Danish Buckfast Line. These queens originated from Buckfast Denmark where Keld Brandstrup had maintained the original Buckfast Line after Brother Adam passed away in 1996.

I began purchasing the Danish Buckfast Queens for use in my own apiary. I also purchased cells for rearing queens. Finally, I ordered a copy of Brother Adam’s book “Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey” and started reading about the Monk’s unique approach to queen breeding.

I struggled in those early years with maintaining hives, rearing queens, and selling honey. I discovered that beekeeping requires a level of knowledge that you can’t get from books. It requires dedication and hands-on experience.

Today, I continue to work predominantly with the Buckfast Bee. There have been many changes through the years that have presented challenges to maintaining the stock in the USA. The largest of these is that in August of 2019, all queens from Canada, including Buckfast queens were restricted from being shipped into the USA.

Canada had been the source for Buckfast Bee genetics, mostly through Ferguson Apiaries for many years. While the Buckfast Line continues to be maintained in Canada, it is no longer possible to import these queens to the USA.

The last time I tried to source Buckfast Queens from Miksa Honey Farms the few remaining breeders they had were in decline. Unfortunately, I had to look elsewhere for new genetics for my apiary.

I discovered that Jason Bragg in West Virginia was continuing to work with Canadian Buckfast Queens. He has worked to maintain the line in the USA using Instrumental Insemination.

I purchased Buckfast Queens from New River Honeybees in 2023 and introduced them to my apiary. I have also worked with other queen breeders who still have Buckfast Bees in their operations and I have begun using Instrumental Insemination myself to maintain the stock.

I believe that maintaining the Buckfast Bee in the United States is an important and critical goal. It is my hope that other beekeepers will benefit from this extraordinary bee and the efforts that are being made to preserve it.

Sincerely,

Winburn Willingham
Founder, Buckfast USA