In this monologue, Laurence Edwards recounts his early struggles with aggressive, sting‑prone local bees and his decisive switch in 2016 to F1 Buckfast queens. Within weeks the colonies became markedly calmer, grew larger, and produced dramatically more honey—up to a 300 % increase, yielding four to six supers per hive compared to a single super previously. Convinced of the benefits, he re‑queened all his hives with Buckfast queens and built Black Mountain Honey into one of the UK’s largest Buckfast suppliers. The company produces its own UK‑mated F1 Buckfast queens using elite European breeder lines and partners with Malta‑based Melitta Bees for early‑season stock. Their catalogue also includes Carniolan, Italian Ligustica, and varroa‑resistant Buckfast strains. Edwards highlights Buckfast’s key traits—gentle temperament, disease resistance, high honey yields (200‑250 lb per colony), and markedly reduced swarming—while noting that regular inspections remain essential. The business offers next‑day delivery (4 PM order cutoff, Royal Mail Special Delivery), with queens shipped in a robust travel cage, attendant bees, a fondant plug, and a perforated cardboard packet; a QR code on the packaging links to detailed introduction instructions. The overall tone is a persuasive testimonial emphasizing the transformative impact of Buckfast queens on beekeeping enjoyment and productivity.
Chapters
When I first started beekeeping, my local mongrel bees were very, very angry and they did whatever they could to sting me over and over again. I wasn't a happy beekeeper and beekeeping was not an enjoyable experience. In fact, I just couldn't bear to go into my colonies because I just dreaded how much it hurt being stung every single week. So back in 2016, I had a really, really difficult decision to make. I either had to give up beekeeping altogether because I just couldn't handle those stings, Or I had to try to work with the bees to promote calmness as a trait. I ordered a couple of F1 Buckfast queens as an experiment and introduced them into some of my colonies. What I noticed was an instant improvement in temperament in as little as say 3 to 4 weeks after introduction. After 6 to 8 weeks, the improvement was drastic and I was really starting to see kind of like some progression towards some nice calm and gentle bees. And what was amazing at that point as well is just how big and strong the colonies had grown. They were packing the brood nest out with frames of brood, and there were just noticeably more bees in my beehive. By the time the next spring came around, the bees were just completely transformed. They were calm, they were placid, they didn't even bother flying up when I opened up the crown board. But even better than that, they remained super calm on the frames as I was taking them out of the beehive. The colony really was transformed. The additional bonus that I got that year though, and I really wasn't expecting this, was a drastic improvement in my honey crop. First year I got an increase of about 300%. I was used to just getting maybe one super of honey if I was lucky. With my new Buckfast queens in those colonies, I was getting 4, 5, or 6 supers from the very best performing hives. So that was it. I was completely convinced that this was the right way to go. At this point, I set about requeening all of my colonies with F1 Buckfast queens, and I have never looked back. My bees are now calm, placid, prolific, and if the weather plays ball, they get a really good honey crop as well. As well. So fast forward to 2024, and Black Mountain Honey, my company, is now one of the biggest suppliers of Buckfast bees within the UK. We produce our own UK-mated F1 Buckfast queens using some exceptional breeder queens from our contacts in Europe. We also work closely with our strategic partners Melitta Bees, who are based in Malta, who provide us queens to supply the early season demand. We also stock Carniolan queens, Italian Ligustica queens, and Buckfast bees that are bred specifically for their resistance towards varroa. However, in our personal experience, it's the Buckfast queens that have proven over the years to give us that really consistent results in terms of temperament, honey production, disease resistance, and one of their most important traits is their resistance to swarming. This doesn't mean you don't need to do your weekly inspections, but compared to the Mongols that I had before, the swarming problem is nowhere near as bad. We understand that sometimes urgency is everything. That's why we offer the latest next-day delivery service for all of our F1 Buckfast queens that we hold in stock. You can order up Enter our 4 PM cutoff and your queens will be sent the same day via Royal Mail Special Delivery, and they will arrive with you the next day before 1 PM, often much earlier. Our queens are packaged in a robust plastic travel cage alongside some attendant bees and alongside a fondant plug to aid introduction. We send the queens in a perforated cardboard packet so there's adequate ventilation as they travel through the postal system. On the packaging, there's also a QR code which you can scan, which takes you directly to introductions on how to introduce your mated Our Buckfast queens are praised for their excellent temperament, disease resistance, and their ability to gather a substantial honey crop. It's not unheard of to get 200-250 pounds from a single colony in a season. They're far less likely to swarm than, say, a local Mongol stock that's developed swarming as a mechanism to try and cope with a high varroa load. They swarm, give themselves a brood break, and then that reduces the amount of varroa in the colony. Buckfast bees have been bred specifically not to try and do that, and it's very rare for the colonies to swarm, say, more than once in a season. As I said, you still need to keep on top of your weekly inspections, but swarming really is reduced. There really is no reason to accept aggressive behaviour from your bees. A Black Mountain Honey Buckfast queen can transform your colony and make beekeeping enjoyable again.
