5.0
Queen
Accent Queen fast delivery will be using again for nucs
Pete
- DASH Accredited
- Bee Farmers Association Member
- Healthy Delivery Guaranteed
VSH Queen Bees
Buckfast queens bred to fight Varroa naturally. Less treatment. Healthier colonies.
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 VSH Queens?
Varroa is the single biggest challenge in modern beekeeping. Most of us manage it with chemical treatments and husbandry techniques, and that works well enough. But only if your timing is right and your dosage is spot on. Miss a treatment window and a colony can collapse. VSH queens offer something different: bees that actively fight back.
- Built-in Varroa defence. VSH bees detect and remove mite-infested brood before mites can reproduce, reducing the rate of population growth within the colony.
- Reduces treatment pressure. Fewer treatments needed, with more margin for error in your timing. Less stress for you and less chemical exposure for your bees.
- Still calm and productive. VSH is selected alongside our standard calmness criteria. You’re not trading temperament for Varroa resistance.
- Safe arrival guarantee. DOA queens replaced free of charge, no arguments.
- Unlimited support. Help before, during, and after introduction, plus guides and videos.
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.
What beekeepers say
Learn why beekeepers choose us.5.0
Hi
Hi, the moms are great and the cooperation is excellent too—I recommend it to everyone. Thank
Artur
5.0
Lovely Queen
My VHS Buckfast Queen arrived on the 24 July and had travelled well in the very hot weather, our postman said he had kept her as cool as he could and waited for me to open the packaging and see if she was okay, she was fine. Added her to the nuc on the 27th and waited until the 29th to break the tabs. Today 7th August I did my inspection and found she was fine and had almost 3full frames of eggs and larva and very good calm bees. Thanks BMH
Will Devine
5.0
They're beautiful, but…
The VSH Buckfast queens I needed were both beautiful (of course), and one is laying already; the other has only been in the hive for a week. I have no problem with what was sent, but I do feel a bit peeved that because I knew I needed them and ordered them in advance to be sure of getting them, I paid full price rather than gambling on the ‘Friday specials’ being available and getting a discount. It feels like being punished for planning ahead!
Pauline Baum
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.
Helpful guides
-
Are My Bees Queenless?
Worrying about whether your colony is queenless is one of the most common anxieties in beekeeping. The good news is there’s a simple, reliable test that gives you a definitive answer, no guesswork required. -
Which Queen is Right for My Setup
Not sure which queen to buy? Here’s a simple, no-nonsense guide to the queens we sell, what each one is good at, and how to pick the right one for your hive. -
How to requeen a beehive
The reliable slow-release method we use to swap a failing or aggressive queen for a calm, well-bred one, explained step by step. -
How To Manage Varroa
Varroa destructor is the single biggest threat to honey bee health in the UK. Left unmanaged, it will devastate your colony within a few seasons.
understand your new queen
Want to understand queen biology, introduction techniques, and requeening strategies in depth? Our Queens course module walks you through everything from selection to introduction to troubleshooting failed introductions.
