It turns out that bees also have breeds, and today there are about 20 thousand of them. Today's article will be useful to anyone who plans to do beekeeping, or is already engaged in this craft. We will talk about the breed of buckfast, its characteristics and features.
Did you know? To produce 450 g of wax, workers need to eat 7–9 kg of honey.
Buckfast breed: characteristic
The creation of the new variety took about 70 years of hard work by the Englishman Karl Kehrle, whose selection work was aimed at obtaining a sign of resistance to the tracheal tick. From this ailment, a large number of local dark bees died out, which, subsequently, were crossed with Italian individuals, and in 1927 they received the first representatives of buckfast.
As for appearance - individuals of dark yellow color, close to brown. The body is a little shaggy, elongated, the wings are light, the legs are saturated black. Proboscis of medium length - in the range of 6.5–6.8 mm. The breed is famous for its high fertility, and families practically do not swarm. They are distinguished by a calm disposition, many beekeepers work with this variety without a net and a smoker. Insects are very hardworking and clean. In the spring, they begin to fly around at a temperature of + 12 ° С.
Important! The presence of a special aroma makes bees calm. 15 minutes after the removal of the female from the family, anxiety and noise will begin, and then the procedure for growing a new uterus will follow.
Description of the bee
It is thanks to the uterus that the family grows and, as a result, collects a large amount of honey.
Features
The main role of the bee in the family is the reproduction of the genus, due to which the family becomes larger and stronger. Outwardly, it differs from the rest: it is larger than the workers, the abdomen is longer and pointed at the end. The uterus is grown from an ordinary egg in a special mother liquor; Worker bees feed it with royal jelly, which includes hormones that contribute to the formation of the reproductive system.
The uterus reaches full development on day 16, while working bees require 21 days for this. The formed bee flies out of the hive accompanied by a dozen working individuals for mating with drones, the last of which becomes a victim of sexual intercourse, because the female returns with a kind of train, which is the male organ.
Important! Beekeepers breeding this breed rarely use protective equipment.
Family behavior
In addition to laying eggs, the uterus secretes a special substance, which the bees carry throughout the hive and, thus, the whole family has the same smell. It is by smell that insects distinguish where their own and where other people's specimens. Working bees and the uterus live in close interconnection, because it is the first that determine the required number of offspring by constructing cells for eggs.
The fertilized female is surrounded by her retinue, which feeds her and cares for her, heading towards the uterus. It is always in place - on the lower tier of the hive. A Bakfast female can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day. The uterus lives up to 5 years, but the peak of its productivity falls on the first 2 years. Noticing a decrease in the productivity of a bee, working bees sting it, or close it in a ball and it dies of suffocation.
Did you know? In one hive, an average of 60 to 120 thousand bees can live.
Advantages and disadvantages
The breed is distributed throughout the planet, with the exception of cold regions, for example, Siberia. Such a habitat is provided with high productive qualities, as well as a peaceful disposition. But this is far from everything that this breed is valued for.
- The advantages also include such qualities:
- Do not swarm. If this happens, you should change the scheme of care for bees.
- Fertility. The uterus lays up to 2000 eggs per day, which ensures rapid family growth.
- High productivity. They are famous for their active summer and collect a large amount of pollen.
- Endurance. They tolerate heat and precipitation well, work up to a temperature of + 10 ° С.
- Unpretentious. Caring for a bee family of buckfast breed is quite simple, and comes down to building new hives and cleaning them.
- Cleanliness. Beehives are always clean, which makes cleaning even easier.
- Resistance to disease.
- Calm disposition. Do not get angry when examined.
- As for the disadvantages, they are as follows:
- Low frost resistance. For the winter, their housing should be insulated.
- Dear uterus. The price of a breeding uterus ranges from 300 to 2,000 euros. When using their uterus, over time, the signs split and the family becomes aggressive, and also loses high productivity.
Content Features
The bee family is growing quite fast, so one of the main tasks of the beekeeper is the preparation of free space for young individuals, as well as a framework for honeycombs. As you know, bees are kept in hives, which, in turn, consist of:
- housing;
- covers;
- bottom;
- store extensions;
- framework.
For departure in the front wall they build a notch, which can be covered with a special valve. Outside, below the entrance, there is an arrival board. The body is covered, most often, with a flat cover. At the bottom there is a bottom, which is a shield with a side. Inside the hive is a store extension, into which frames are inserted.The following requirements will tell you in which hives it is better to contain beef of the beeffast breed:
- The hive should be spacious. This will make it possible to multiply freely and strengthen the family, mainly the space needed for brood and storage of feed.
- Availability of free sun loungers. The industriousness of insects allows you to completely fill them with honey.
- Winter warming. The breed is sensitive to low temperatures, so you need to take care of this before the onset of cold weather.
- For every bee family, you need highlight a separate hive.
Tips from experienced beekeepers
When starting to work with beeffast bees, it is important to consider the following:
- The size of the hive. It is recommended to provide bees with more free space, since the family of this breed grows quite quickly.
- Let the population grow. With the cessation of growth in the number of bee colonies, honey production decreases.
- Do not divide families, as this provokes swarming.
- When arranging the extensions, the location of the uterus, which is in the lower tier and never leaves it, should be taken into account.
Now you know about one of the most popular bee breeds - buckfast, about its advantages and disadvantages, as well as how to work with it. Bakfast's bees will not cause great difficulties during maintenance and will fully thank aromatic honey.
