DASH Accredited
Bee Farmers Association Member
Healthy Delivery Guaranteed

UK Queen Bees

Our UK queen bees come from proven external breeding programmes, hand-selected for calmness and yield.

5.03 reviews

Choose queen type

Quantity

£50.00 £50.00 per item

Choose your dispatch date

We dispatch queen bees from April 2027 onwards. Weather may move your date by a few days — we’ll always tell you first.

Standard or premium?

Both options give you calm, productive Buckfast queens from quality-assured breeding programmes. Here’s how to decide:

Choose Standard if:

You’re looking for a reliable, well-bred queen at excellent value
You’re requeening a colony or starting a nuc
You want proven Buckfast genetics without the premium price tag

Choose Premium if:

You want the absolute calmest queens we offer
You’re requeening a particularly aggressive colony
You want access to more exclusive genetic lines, including queens bred from breeder queens that can cost upwards of £1,000 each
You’re building out your breeding stock and want superior mating conditions with greater drone isolation

Still not sure?

The honest answer is that Standard queens are genuinely very good, and most beekeepers will be delighted with them.

Premium queens come from more exclusive breeding lines and are mated under stricter isolation conditions, which gives you a higher ceiling on calmness and consistency. If temperament is your absolute priority, Premium is worth the extra investment.

Why our UK queen bees?

Our UK Queens come from external breeding programmes we’ve trusted for years. Every one is selected for calm temperament above everything else. That’s the quality that actually matters when you’re standing at an open hive.

Selected from proven programmes. We don’t source from just anyone. Our suppliers are established Buckfast breeders with strong reputations and consistent, trackable genetics.
Calm temperament, every time. Calmness is the number one selection criterion. You should look forward to opening your hives, not dread it.
Safe arrival guarantee DOA queens replaced free of charge, no arguments.
Unlimited support. Help before, during, and after introduction, plus guides and videos.
Backed by our guarantee. If there’s ever a temperament issue, we’ll work with you to put it right.

After you order

After you order:

You’ll receive an order confirmation with expected dispatch and delivery dates
We’ll send tracking information when your queen ships
Your queen arrives in a secure postal cage with attendant bees and food
You’ll have introduction guides and videos ready to go
Contact us any time if you need help — there are NO silly questions

Ongoing support:

We don’t disappear after the sale. You can contact us before, during, and after introduction. We’ve also got a library of YouTube videos, guides, blog posts, and live streams that cover most questions before you even need to ask them.

5.0

Premium F1 Buckfast Queens

I got offered 2 x premium Buckfast Queens as an alternative to the Lutz Eggert ones due to availability issues. I released the Queens into their Nucs being made up 4 hours before putting Queens in. After 4 days 1st attempt at me releasing the Queens with their workers, the bees attempted to kill their Queens. So I put the Queens back into their cages on their own. I then released the Queens after another 2 days, the bees were calm with their Queens. Eggs seen and Queens in both Nucs after 5 days

Stuart 1 month ago

5.0

Great service and queens

As always the service from Laurence was fantastic, great communication, dispatch and queens are always in great cages and in fantastic condition. The one I had a few weeks ago has developed an amazingly calm hive and is a laying machine! So great hopes for this one too

Ian 2 months ago

5.0

2nd purchase

This is my second purchase after buying an f1 premium buckfast queen a few weeks ago now. The queen was a beautiful large golden queen in prime condition. Laying up frames if brood within 3 days. Im waiting now for my lutz eggert buckfast queen to arrive 5th of june and hoping she is equally as good or better .however i think it would be hard to improve on.
I will definately purchase again if i need to

Tony Henderson 4 months ago

Frequently asked questions

We guarantee safe arrival when using our Royal Mail Special Delivery service (£9.99). If your queen arrives dead or damaged, contact us immediately with a photo and we’ll send a replacement free of charge. No arguments, no hassle.

UK delivery is £9.99 via Royal Mail Special Delivery. This is a signature-required, tracked service that ensures your queens arrive safely. Please make sure your delivery address is 100% correct. We cannot be held liable for failed deliveries if the address is incorrect or you’re not available to sign.

Queens are shipped in secure postal cages with attendant bees and food via Royal Mail Special Delivery (£9.99). This is a signature-required service and cannot be posted through your letterbox. Delivery is tracked so you know exactly when to expect them. We’ve shipped thousands of queens safely using this method.

Queens are forecast to arrive the day after your selected dispatch date. We use Royal Mail Special Delivery (pre-1pm service), but we cannot guarantee the exact day or time of delivery as this is controlled by Royal Mail. When you place your order, we’ll confirm your dispatch date and expected arrival window.

We’ve got you covered. You’ll receive introduction instructions with your queen, and we have detailed guides and videos showing exactly how to introduce her to your colony safely. If you get stuck, contact us. We’re here to help every step of the way.

You’ll start to notice a difference within 3-4 weeks as the old queen’s brood is replaced by the new queen’s offspring. Within 6-8 weeks, the temperament shift should be very noticeable. By 10-12 weeks, the colony will be fully transitioned to the new queen’s genetics and temperament.

The Buckfast is a honey bee hybrid originally developed at Buckfast Abbey in Devon by Brother Adam. It’s known for its calm temperament, disease resistance, and strong honey production. Our UK Queens are bred by established Buckfast breeders who have built on those foundations over many years of selective breeding.

Both are Buckfast queens from quality-assured external breeding programmes. Premium queens are selected from more exclusive genetic lines — breeder queens for these lines can cost upwards of £1,000 each — and are mated in superior conditions with greater drone isolation. The result is a higher ceiling on calmness and genetic consistency. Standard queens are still carefully selected and represent excellent value. Most beekeepers will be very happy with either choice.

UK Queen Bees