Close-up view of a wooden honeycomb frame filled with honeybees working on a honeycomb structure.
Close-up of a honeybee colony with a queen bee marked with a red dot surrounded by worker bees.

MOUNTAIN

Type: Italian F1 Buckfast

DOB: September 2022 (Red)

RELATIONS: TITAN (daughter), HASHTAG (daughter), LEAF (daughter), LYRIA (daughter).

CAUSE SUPPORTED: Green Light Foundation Uganda.

LENGTH OF SERVICE: August 2023 - December 2024

STATUS: Colony died during winter 2024

TITAN

HASHTAG

LEAF

LYRIA

Close-up of honeybees on a honeycomb, with one bee marked with a green dot.
Close-up of honeybees on a honeycomb with one bee marked with a green dot on its head.
Close-up of honeybees on honeycomb, some with green markings on their heads.
Close-up of honeybees on a hive, focusing on one bee with green marking on its black head.
Close-up view of honey bees on a honeycomb with one bee marked with a red dot.

LIFE IN 2023

She may have a strange name. But she was named after a Queen breeding beekeeper, and that beekeeper was Black Mountain Honey. She was donated to us in an bring in some help.

She is an incredible queen. Very docile and highly productive, producing 4 of our strongest queens in 2024.

I’m highly grateful to Black Mountain Honey for this.

Close-up of a beehive with numerous honeybees, some tending to hive, others on surface with honeycomb pieces and debris.

HER DEATH IN 2024

Sadly the winter of 2024 ended her life and on investigation we found out that this was due to Varroa Mites. Although I did treat her colony, the mites soon overwhelmed the hive during there winter rest, weakening the bees and due to this weakness they were exposed to viruses and eventually one wiped them out.

MOUNTAIN LIVES ON

A honey bee pinned with pins around its body, with a red mark on its thorax, lying on a flat surface.

She now lives on, but not in the way you’d think. She is now used as an education piece in our workshops and talks about Honeybees. She is forever encased in resin with two of her workers.

She was a gorgeous queen who has helped shape the very foundation of our future Queen Bees.

A person holding a small clear plastic container with three insects inside, two Queens and one worker bee with a red dot on its back, outdoors in a garden with trees and a house in the background.