Buckfast queens

[OPAVP]

Hi fellow keepers of the bees.

I would like to know how many of you in the Northern states keep Buckfast bees??

How do they overwinter for you?
Can you tell which state you"re in??
Thanks.
Cor Van Pelt.

[Michael Bush]

>I would like to know how many of you in the Northern states keep Buckfast bees??

I had them from 1974 until 2001.

>How do they overwinter for you?

From 1974 until 200 they did well for me.  In 2001 they were too vicious to handle but they had overwintered the winter before.  Usually they did well.  They are a nice compromise between the frugality of the darker bees (Carniolan, Caucasian etc.) and the Italians.  They were somewhat frugal while having a bigger cluster than the darker bees and smaller than the Italians.

>Can you tell which state you"re in??

Nebraska.  From 1974 until 1984 or so it was the Panhandle (USDA zone 4).  One year it was in Laramie, WY.  The rest in southeastern Nebraska.