Pre-order now for April 2027 pickup
Spring 2027 Pre-Order: Mated Buckfast Queen
Spring 2027 Pre-Order: Mated Buckfast Queen
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This is a pre-order for spring 2027 delivery.
We are not selling queens for the current season. If you need a queen now, we can’t help you this year — and we’d rather say so than take your money. Call (701) 809-0153 and we’ll point you toward someone who can. If you’re planning ahead for spring 2027, you’re in the right place. You are reserving a queen for pickup on our spring 2027 delivery route. Pickup only — we do not ship live bees.
Delivery is scheduled for April 2027, and those dates are tentative. We haul live animals across many states. Weather, supplier timing, and colony health all move dates, and we will not run a route that puts bees at risk. You’ll receive your exact stop, date, and time window by email. Read our delivery date policy.
Nucs and packages are delivered on separate days. We bring nucs through first, then return through the same towns with packages about two weeks later. Queens ride along with the delivery, so they are available at every pickup stop.
One mated, laying Buckfast queen bee ready for installation into your hive. Available at every pickup stop.
IMPORTANT: All queens are sold UNMARKED. We do NOT mark queens. If you need a marked queen, you’ll need to mark her yourself or purchase from a different supplier.
What Are Buckfast Queens Best For?
Buckfast bees are the line Brother Adam spent seventy years developing at Buckfast Abbey in England, crossing Italian stock with the old English black bee and more than a dozen other subspecies. The result is a calm, hard-working bee bred for honey production and, above all, for staying put instead of swarming.
• Temperament: Very gentle — bred for calm handling
• Swarming: Low — the trait the line is best known for
• Spring Buildup: Strong and steady — prolific, long-lived queens
• Honey Production: Excellent — selected for surplus
• Color: Leathery brown, often with lighter bands. Color varies between colonies — Brother Adam bred for performance, not for a uniform look.
Best For: Requeening a colony with a gentle, productive queen that is slow to swarm.
Delivery Waves
We run four delivery waves. Nucs go out first, then we come back through the same towns with packages about two weeks later — so nucs and packages are never picked up on the same day.
- Waves 1 & 2 — Southern: Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin. Nucs on Wave 1, packages on Wave 2.
- Waves 3 & 4 — Northern: Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Nucs on Wave 3, packages on Wave 4.
Delivery is scheduled for April 2027 and dates are tentative. We don’t publish a stop-by-stop schedule until we’re confident in it. You’ll receive your exact stop, date, and time window by email. Read our delivery date policy.
Payment Options
- Pay in full by credit card at checkout
- Cash-on-delivery available (50% deposit required by January 31, 2027)
To pay your 50% deposit now by card, use coupon code 'Half Cash'.
Questions? Call (701) 809-0153
Photo: Maja Dumat, CC BY 2.0
