Brother Adam; Monk Was Expert on Bee Breeding

Brother Adam, 98, a Benedictine monk and world expert on bee breeding. Born Karl Kehrle, he entered Buckfast Abbey in England at age 12, and took over the monastery’s apiaries when he became a full monk in 1919. His experimentation and crossbreeding developed the Buckfast Superbee, considered the healthiest and most prolific honey producer ever bred. In 1991, the U.S. Department of Agriculture imported queen bees that Brother Adam bred to be resistant to acarine disease, which had badly damaged honey production in the United States. He wrote three authoritative books, “Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey,” “In Search of the Best Strains of Bees” and “Breeding the Honeybee.” On Sunday near Buckfast Abbey.