Our Black Mountain Honey queens. Hand-selected by Laurence for their calmness and yield.
Both options give you calm, productive Buckfast queens from quality-assured breeding programmes. Here’s how to decide:
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.
These are the queens Laurence personally stands behind. Every single one is selected for calm temperament and strong yield, the two things that matter most when you’re working your hives.
After you order:
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.
Hi Lawrence, I have been meaning to write to you for a while. You very kindly gave me a replacement queen late last year. She sailed through winter in a nuc and has thrived this year. The bee inspector gave her colony full marks on all counts and wanted to know where she came from. The colony is a delight to work with and Black Mountain is my “go to” supplier, no question. Thank you.
Having previously purchased Black mountain Queens. I needed 4 for the final splits for this year. Very happy with the service, and all queens are happily added to thier new homes.
I bought an Obsidian Queen last week but she’s not in the Nuc now. My fault challenge is if you put your name down for a Friday extra you don’t have a Nuc ready so I made up a Nuc on the day and put her in a large introduction cage. I’ve never done this before and kept looking to see if she was OK Day 3 I took the cage off. Had another look day 4 she was still there day five she wasn’t there so it’s my fault for stressing the bees out tinkering. These Queens are always good.
Early days but I’m delighted with these. I always try to use press in cages to introduce queens and I have had 100% success with these. Both nucs seem to be establishing well. V pleased with all my queens from BMH. Thank you!
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.
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.
