Karl Kehrle

Karl Kehrle alias brother Adam ( born August 3, 1898 in Mittelbiberach; † September 1, 1996 at Buckfast Abbey, Devon ) was a Benedictine monk who was breeding his Buckfast bee one of the most famous beekeeper of modern times.

Life

At the age of twelve, his mother called the Upper Swabia Karl Kehrle in the English Benedictine convent of Buckfast Abbey. Since the construction work that took place at that time in the monastery, were too strenuous for him, he was appointed in 1915 the monastery apiary, which he headed from 1919. As a monk, he took the name of Brother Adam. He decided because of a rampant England in bee disease, the Isle of Wight Disease, in which survived in the monastery apiary only a few colonies to break new ground in the breed. The necessary foundations for the application of genetics to the breeding of bees he found in Ludwig Armbruster's Bee-breeding of 1919. Knowing the high susceptibility of inbred honeybee he turned from the pure breed commonly known as the sole breeding method from.

Based on the teachings of Ludwig Armbruster he bred so in cross-breeding, breeding combination and pure breeding a so-called " erbfeste " honey bee race that met its requirements in terms of disease resistance traits and honey production. Throughout his active beekeepers life, so almost 80 years, he was. " Looking " is also the title of a major work He traveled since the 1920s, systematically and consistently large parts of the world, starting in Europe to Asia and Africa, to search for suitable races of bees, which he tested in his apiary to introgress some in its population. He called the resulting race in honor of his home monastery of Buckfast bee.

Buckfast bee

Brother Adam represented in many performances throughout the world vehemently his views and became the recognized bee scientist who has received many honorary doctorates of the Universities of Exeter and Uppsala. In 1974 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and included as Officer in the Order of the British Empire ( OBE). Although often maligned and fights, there is "his" Bee on all continents.

Health reasons forced brother Adam in 1991 to think of his resignation as head of the monastery apiary. A proposed by him as successor recognized beekeepers, however, was rejected by the Abbey line. Thus brother Adam was forced in early 1992, his office which he had held since September 1, 1919 to lay down. The breed was initially placed in the hands of an inexperienced monk. After this under Buckfast beekeepers generated excitement ( they feared the loss of decades of breeding ), took over brother Adams assistant Peter Donovan breeding. The breeding of the Buckfast bee, continued in the meantime with the information released by brother Adam and breeding material based on his breeding guidelines, is considered by many beekeepers worldwide success.