Brother Adam

▪ 1997

      (KARL KEHRLE), German-born Benedictine monk and bee breeder (b. Aug. 3, 1898, Mittlebiberach, Ger.—d. Sept. 1, 1996, Buckfast, South Devon, Eng.), was regarded as an authority on bees for his revolutionary work, most notably the development of the Buckfast bee, a breed that was considered one of the hardiest and most prolific producers of honey ever bred. At the age of 11 he was sent from his home in Germany to England, where he joined the order of Benedictine monks at St. Mary's Abbey in Buckfast. He began working in the abbey's apiaries in 1915. During World War I Britain was beset by the Isle of Wight epidemic that destroyed nearly every bee colony in the country. Brother Adam began crossbreeding different strains of the insect, attempting to create a breed that was both an abundant producer of honey and resistant to acarine, the disease largely responsible for the devastation. His work led to the creation of the Buckfast bee. Brother Adam continued to develop different varieties of bees, traveling around the world in search of native strains; at the age of 89 he was carried up Mt. Kilimanjaro in search of an elusive bee. His crossbreeds were so prized that thieves stole two queens from the abbey's apiaries in 1982. He wrote several books on beekeeping that were considered classics in the field and in 1974 was made an OBE. In 1992, much to the outrage of bee breeders worldwide, the monastery's new abbot forced Brother Adam to abandon his research.

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