IBBA  The Irish Buckfast Beekeepers’ Association  is affiliated to the Federation of European Buckfast Beekeepers’ Associations (GdeB)

There are many reasons to join a Buckfast beekeepers’ association:       

The Buckfast bee has been the first choice for many beekeepers worldwide since the 1920s because of her well known positive characteristics. When the Irish Buckfast Beekeepers’ Association was founded in January 2011 we learned Buckfast bees were also favoured by a surprisingly high number of beekeepers all over Ireland.

They exist in all parts and areas of Ireland from Donegal in the far north down to Cork in  the very south and in counties such as Cavan, Carlow, Clare, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon Sligo, Tipperary, and Wicklow, not to mention Northern Ireland with a Buckfast beekeeping and breeding history dating back to the 1980s.

Maybe this is not a new message for you, because you keep Buckfast bees yourself, but never were in a position to talk about them with like-minded beekeepers.
This situation also can have many reasons:

• There was no Buckfast Beekeepers’ Association in Ireland
• You had little or no contact to other beekeepers
• You are a member of a local or regional beekeeping association exclusively devoted to the conservation of Apis mellifera mellifera.

Based on the present situation we now have the opportunity to offer a platform for members  of the Buckfast beekeepers’ association in order to establish a co-operative line-breeding programme aimed particularly at the creation of a unique Irish strain of the Buckfast bee, acknowledged and valued nationally and - in the future - across Europe.
A small-scale beekeeper on his/her own usually lacks the amount of material required for a successful breeding project, but there should not be a problem to reach such a goal together with a group of like-minded and experienced colleagues.
You as an Ireland-based Buckfast beekeeper can assist either by actively breeding queens or support this project by providing some drones from one or more of your colonies.

There are many reasons to keep Buckfast bees:

• Buckfast bees are extremely docile and healthy
• They are completely adjusted to their environment, brood diseases typical for a damp area as the British Isles are not present in Buckfast bees
• Their specific behaviour facilitates checking a hive as thouroughly as individually required at any time of the day and in any weather
• They are very quiet on the comb, bee-breeding made easy
• Quick build up in spring
• Buckfast bees never attack and rarely sting
• Reduced swarming tendency
• No complaints from neighbours when the apiary is situated in a backgarden or densely populated area
• Suitable for a family with children (or frequent visitors)
• Ideal for a school garden (pet farms)
• Rewarding first contacts for the novice in beekeeping

So why do you still hesitate? contact us and apply for membership in:
The First Independent Buckfast Beekeepers‘ Association of Ireland!

 Click: what next?  Find out!                                                

2012 -The Buckfast bee is back in the UK - Re-activation of Brother Adam’s Isolated Mating Station on Dartmoor - click here