The University of Guelph is a member of Buckfast Ontario, a Buckfast honey bee breeders collective. The other members of the group are Ferguson Apiaries, in Hensall, and Munro Honey and Meadery, in Alvinston.
If you are interested in purchasing queens or cells from the HBRC, please read the following information carefully:
This year, we will be producing a very limited number of Buckfast queens and queen cells for sale.
Queen cells – $20
Locally mated queens – $50
Island mated queens – $90
Our queen production is scheduled around our research activities, so we cannot guarantee when, or how many, queens will be available.
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to receive notifications of when we have queens available! They can be purchased on a first-come, first-serve, basis.
Queen cells are available by pick up only.
Nine or fewer mated queens are available by pick up only.
Orders of 10 or more mated queens of the same type can be shipped, via UPS, within Canada. We can quote the shipping cost to your shipping address for the number of mated queens you plan to purchase.
Live honey bees cannot be shipped or transported from Canada to the USA. Rigorous testing requirements make this impractical.
We do NOT sell nucs (nucleus colonies) or hives.
If you are interested in purchasing queens, please send an email to infohbrc@uoguelph.ca with the following information:
- Your name
- Phone number
- Address (if shipping)
- Number of queens
- Type of queen (local, island mated, or cells)
- Beekeeping registration number
If you are looking for early queens or larger numbers or queens/cells, please contact the other Buckfast breeders in Ontario:
- Ferguson Apiaries
http://fergusonapiaries.on.ca/ - Munro Honey and Meadery
http://www.munrohoney.com/
They should be able to supply you with the queens you need in the spring, if you get on their lists soon.
If you are purchasing queen cells, watch our video on Handling Queen Cells.
If you are purchasing mated queens, watch our video on Caring for Caged Queens and Requeening.