Elgon VSH Mated Queen
£50.00
Elgon VSH Mated Queen Bee – Naturally Varroa-Resistant and Bred for Sustainable Beekeeping
Step into the future of beekeeping with our Elgon VSH Mated Queen Bees, bred for exceptional Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) and long-term colony resilience. At Black Mountain Honey, we proudly offer these revolutionary queens to support treatment-free beekeeping, helping beekeepers across the UK establish stronger, healthier, and more self-sufficient colonies.
The Elgon Legacy
The Elgon bee traces its roots to Mount Elgon, located on the border of Kenya and Uganda, where the indigenous Apis mellifera monticola thrives at high altitude. This dark, robust honey bee developed natural tolerance to parasites and diseases over centuries. In 1989, a group of Swedish researchers and beekeepers, led by Erik Österlund, imported carefully selected breeding material from the region, combining it with Buckfast and Sahariensis lines to enhance vitality, resilience, and manageability.
The result is the Elgon bee – a hardy, varroa-resistant strain admired for its calm temperament, disease tolerance, and ability to flourish in cooler climates.
Why Choose Elgon VSH Mated Queens
Natural Varroa Resistance: Strong VSH behaviour allows colonies to detect and remove varroa-infested brood, maintaining low mite levels naturally.
Genetic Strength: Derived from diverse and carefully balanced bloodlines to enhance colony health and performance.
Adaptable and Hardy: Performs exceptionally well in the UK climate, with excellent overwintering success.
Treatment-Free Beekeeping: Designed to reduce or eliminate the need for chemical varroa treatments.
Gentle and Manageable: Calm disposition and easy handling make them ideal for both experienced and conscientious new beekeepers.
Built for the Modern Sustainable Apiary
Our Elgon queens are hand-selected for their proven hygienic behaviour, strong brood patterns, and productivity. Each queen is reared and mated under controlled conditions to preserve the defining characteristics of the Elgon line while ensuring reliable performance in UK environments.
Whether you are a hobbyist seeking a more sustainable approach or a commercial beekeeper reducing treatment costs, the Elgon VSH Queen is an invaluable addition to your apiary.
Order Your Elgon Queen Bees
Purchasing your Elgon VSH Mated Queens through Black Mountain Honey is quick and secure. Each queen is shipped safely and arrives ready to introduce into your colony. With ongoing support and expert guidance, we help you make the transition toward a more sustainable, resilient form of beekeeping.
Choose Elgon. Choose strength, sustainability, and the natural future of beekeeping.
Black Mountain Honey – trusted suppliers of Elgon VSH Queen Bees.
Quantity
Shipping Info
24hr Royal Mail Special Delivery (Pre 1pm). Signature REQUIRED. Queens are guaranteed to arrive alive. CANNOT be posted through letter box - £9.50
Queens are forecast to arrive the day AFTER 'day of dispatch'. We are unable to guarantee the day or time of delivery.
We guarantee the live arrival of your queens using ONLY THE ROYAL MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY SERVICE (£9.50). If queens arrived damaged or dead, we will replace free of charge when paying for the premium Special Delivery service.
Please ensure your address is 100% correct. We cannot be held liable for any failed deliveries if the address is incorrect or you aren't available to sign for your delivery.
Dead on Arrival
We will replace Queens that arrive dead on arrival ONLY if they are still in their SEALED cage and reported within 8 hrs of the FIRST recorded delivery slot. You will be required to take a video of the queen alongside a copy of your order number. All dead queens must be returned to us in their sealed cages.
We only offer our 'dead on arrival' guarantee when using the Premium Royal Mail Special Delivery option.
All queens sent using RM 24 ARE NOT COVERED IF THEY DIE WHILST IN TRANSIT, REGARDLESS OF ANY DELAYS INCURRED WHILST WITH THE COURIER.
Important Delivery Dates
To ensure you receive your queens at the right time, please select a date of DISPATCH. The queens will arrive the following day. If you select 'ASAP' we will send them as soon as they are available but queens that are ordered against specific dates will take priority.
Queens are forecast to arrive the day AFTER 'day of dispatch'. We are unable to guarantee the day of delivery.
Cancellations
ALL CANCELLED ORDERS WILL INCUR A £5 RESTOCKING AND PAYMENT PROCESSING FEE.
We work closely with our breeders to ensure we have a steady supply of queens and cancelled orders make it very difficult for us to accurately assess the needs throughout the course of the year.
Our payment processing facility on the website incurs fees regardless of whether the balance is refunded to the customer.
From Sunday 17th July 2022 all cancelled orders will incur a £5 surcharge. By placing an order on this website, you acknowledge and accept that any transaction that is cancelled, will incur a £5 cancellation charge.
Full Description
Elgon Mated Queen
When ordering ELGON 'Buckfast' Mated Queens you will receive the following:
- A marked (yellow for 2022), open mated, ELGON 'Buckfast' Mated Queen in a slow release queen introduction cage. Queens are not clipped and we do not offer this service. If you order more than one queen, they will arrive in separate cages (along with attendant bees).
- A5 introduction postcard detailing successful methods for introduction and QR codes for support videos on our YouTube channel.
- Orders will arrive in a ventilated cardboard container. Your consignment will require a signature on arrival.
- On placement of order you will receive an email confirmation. On the day of dispatch, you will receive a tracking code which can be tracked at Royal MaiL
Queens should be introduced to the beehives as soon as they are delivered. They can be introduced into a colony on the same day as dispatching the queen but fondant tabs should only be opened once the colony is hopelessly queenless.
Here is a link to our YouTube channel on how to successfully introduce queens. We cannot be held liable for any failed queen introductions. Bees are wild creatures and successful introduction is never guaranteed.
Mated queen bees are natural creatures and although we can advise you on how to achieve the best introduction success, we cannot be held liable for any failed queen introductions.
As African bees in South America developed resistance to Varroa in just 5 years, some Swedish beekeepers came up with the idea of obtaining reproductive material from a variety of African bees that are easy to handle and very similar to European bees (without the extremes defensive behavior of the variety brought to South America).
In March 1989 a group of four Swedish beekeepers went to Mount Elgon, Kenya, and collected drone sperm in capillary tubes and small larvae and eggs in small pieces of honeycomb. The purpose of using this breeding material was to increase the vitality and genetic variation of European bees with a "high potency natural resource".
The bee breed was the Apis Mellifera Monticola, a dark and robust bee with a relatively good character and therefore easy to handle. Also in 1989 sperm and eggs from crosses between Buckfast bee and Apis Mellifera Sahariensis were brought to Sweden from Holland with the aim of avoiding inbreeding. It was easy to get good pairings with both Buckfast bees and Italian bees and the resulting bee is not a Buckfast bee, strictly speaking, but very similar, with a marked defensive behavior against varroa.
Royal Mail Special Delivery
We send all of our live products using Royal Mail's Special Delivery Service
DASH Accredited
As responsible, sustainable and committed bee farmers, we hold full DASH accreditation.
Customer Service
Got a question? Drop us a message or call. We are always happy to help you!
Reviews
Verry professional, great customer service and verry quick to respond. 6 of the loveliest queen's 2 different breads, I couldn't recommend these guys more!
I can only believe that Laurence himself is a reincarnation of a worker bee! His dedication and work load to his bees and information channels are off the scale. From this, his Queens and products are incredible. Along with his first class service, he has no doubt helped my own beekeeping hobby to make it so much pleasure. And to top it all off, a really nice guy. Thank you.