About us
Introducing Keld Brandstrup
BEEKEEPING IS ABOUT SHARING

Keld Brandstrup’s long and successful career as a beekeeper began in the early 1980s. Starting as an enthusiastic recreational beekeeper he has developed a highly professional commercial beekeeping company since then.
Today, Buckfast Denmark has 400 to 500 beehives and produces 25–30 tons of honey annually. A longstanding cooperation with Brother Adam from Buckfast Abbey in England early in his career gave Keld a deep interest in bee breeding. As a consequence, bee breeding is now the company’s dominant activity. His queens, which are bred according to Brother Adam’s principles, are in demand by beekeepers, universities and researchers worldwide.
Keld Brandstrup holds a number of posts in Danish and International Organizations for Beekeepers. He is a member of the Danish Honey Council (what’s that? Never heard of the Danish Honey Council!) and is chairman of the Danish Association of Commercial Beekeepers. In his free time he serves as bee inspector and breeding consultant for a number of beekeepers and beekeeping associations throughout the world.
For many years Keld has travelled the world in search of useful breeding material. He is more than happy to share his extensive experience and knowledge of combination breeding and queen production with other beekeepers, and frequently travels to deliver lectures outside the season. As Keld says - “Beekeeping is about sharing”.
Keld Brandstrup, who is born in 1954, has two children with his former wife, Jette Britt Nielsen, who died in 2005. Jette was also skilled at grafting and for many years assisted Keld. Keld’s current partner is Cristina Simonsen.
Introducing Mogens Mundt
THE MAGIC BEHIND BUCKFAST QUEENS

The magic behind Buckfast queens is quite simple – the quality and craftsmanship are unparalleled. The best Buckfast queens are produced when all parts of the process are working optimally. This is the continual challenge facing the beekeepers of Buckfast Denmark.
Mogens Mundt explains: “Ever since I became fascinated in breeding bees I’ve always based my work on an ethical principle: I will only care for colonies that I can ensure are well cared for. This is the challenge that makes me tick as a beekeeper”. Mogens Mundt is 38 years old and has worked professionally with bees for over 14 years. Beekeeping actually goes back several generations in his family though, so bees have always been part of Mogens’ life. His father was a beekeeper, and it was through this paternal relationship that Mogens learned the art of beekeeping. Gradually, the passion for beekeeping became stronger and the amount of hives increased.
Through cooperation with Keld Brandstrup, Mogens has developed insights into honeybee genetics and the ability to assess colonies for important traits. Overally colony temper, calmness on the comb, swarm tendency, comb building, brood pattern, propolizing, and hygienic behaviour are all key criteria that must be met for a colony to be selected as a potential breeder. “A professional beekeeper must have the ability to scan a colony of bees and quickly make an informed assessment about the state and health of the colony” says Mogens.
The picture is clear - quality, quality and more quality!
"Here at Buckfast Denmark our production is limited to the number of queens that we can guarantee the quality of. We will only produce the very best queens for our customers, we never compromise on quality”.
Together with their two children, Mogens and his wife Lisbeth live on the old family farm near the town of Stenlille on the island of Zealand. Of the 18 hectares of land attached to the farm, much of it is used for landscaping forest and two landscaped ponds to encourage diversity and wildlife.
Leisure time? What’s that? As a young man Mogens was a passionate footballer but these days when he needs to relax he goes Fishing. Most of all, in quiet moments Mogens loves to just sit outdoors and listen to the sounds of the forest.
Brother Adam’s legacy
Brother Adam (Karl Kehrle)
