# Buckwheat



## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

from my experience different soils and varieties plus the weather all have an effect on yield. best to talk to local beekeepers or bee club. It is the cheapest crop to plant.


----------



## leejones15 (Apr 4, 2015)

What varieties have you tried?


----------



## johno (Dec 4, 2011)

There was a letter in the ABJ a couple of months back about buck wheat varieties, the writer claimed that the variety known as Silver Hull produced the most nectar. ( Esculatum Moench) I have planted buckwheat for a few years and have been disappointed in the results, bees will feed before mid day but do not seem to accumulate any nectar. and in the later part of summer no longer even bother with the buckwheat flowers. I have tried to locate the Silver Hull variety but most of buckwheat seed suppliers claim the variety to be unknown. The writer of the letter to the ABJ claimed that commercial varieties produce almost no nectar. 
Johno


----------



## leejones15 (Apr 4, 2015)

I have read a couple posts about "Tokyo" buckwheat, which is sold by fedco seeds, but I can't find any particularly convincing testimonials that it is any better. 
I find it all odd; buckwheat seems to be a fairly common honey flower, but no one actually seems to grow it. Where does buckwheat honey come from???


----------



## johno (Dec 4, 2011)

The Amish folk use it a lot as a green fertilizer, and probably keep the seed they harvest. So I guess buckwheat honey comes mostly from Amish areas.
Johno


----------



## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

Buckwheat is very commonly used as both a green manure and smother crop around here. I plan to plant a bunch on land my pigs "plowed" last year.


----------



## JC1 (Jan 27, 2014)

Buckwheat is grown here occasionally as a cover crop also. The Amish farmers here also plant it as a food and animal feed source. Even though I have read the same thing about some varieties not producing nectar, I have not seen a field of it that did not have all sorts of bees in it. The bees I had sitting in some buckwheat last year seemed to work it most of the day, but especially in the morning. Like most plants, I would guess that the nectar availability is directly related to the amount of soil moisture the plant has available. Buckwheat is commonly planted in the driest part of the year, after the primary crop has been harvested. Maybe that is why they some varieties don't produce. There is a lot of irrigation around here, and the road side weeds that get the irrigation overspray will have many times more bees on them than the ones across the road that get no extra water. Not that I like me bees venturing that close to most of the fields in these parts...


----------



## Dave1958 (Mar 25, 2013)

This is my second year with buckwheat. I'm told buckwheat is a dark honey. My honey is dark. Deer eat a tremendous amount of stems and Turkey devour the seeds. I got to disk it under once last year, but not enough seeds because of the turkey. So I'm planting twice as much in the same area to see if I can disk it under more than once to get blooms. Note buckwheat needs dark to germinate


----------



## leejones15 (Apr 4, 2015)

Dave1958 said:


> This is my second year with buckwheat. I'm told buckwheat is a dark honey. My honey is dark. Deer eat a tremendous amount of stems and Turkey devour the seeds. I got to disk it under once last year, but not enough seeds because of the turkey. So I'm planting twice as much in the same area to see if I can disk it under more than once to get blooms. Note buckwheat needs dark to germinate


Where did you get your buckwheat from? Do you know anything about the variety?


----------



## tech.35058 (Jul 29, 2013)

I planted a couple of "test plots" last year, ( Alabama is a little south of the recommended range) then was told that the flowers only opened for the bees about an hour a day. I did mow it & it did reseed, but I am not sure if the bees worked it.
This was some I got "some where on the internet" it was probably the "no nectar" variety, any way. ... CE


----------



## Rob Hughes (Apr 23, 2012)

I plant buckwheat as a green manure/smother crop on my garlic beds in rotation, and a couple of years ago planted a big area of it in my adjoining field, it was 'common' buckwheat from the local Coop farm store. As others have said the results were underwhelming. The bees did use it but it didn't seem to have nearly the impact I expected. I am now concentrating on yellow and white sweet clover and sunflowers, plus some sainfoin. It seems that deer love all the crops that benefit bees, for some reason, so I have some challenges. 

When I saw the relative lack of bees on the buckwheat I read up more on it, and saw the references to some varieties having little nectar. Unfortunately I have been unable to find anywhere locally that offers any choice of varieties. However I feel the sweet clovers are a lot better anyway. I've also got about 50 small leaf lindens coming on too, but that is a long term project!

Rob


----------



## cerezha (Oct 11, 2011)

You may find useful this link:
http://www.honeybeesuite.com/bees-in-the-buckwheat/
In particular:
" Curt
September 22, 2014 at 5:53 pm • Reply	
The variety of buckwheat you need is called ‘mancan’ for honey bees. It’s a southern variety. I planted a late crop, which the bees really worked and it’s now going to seed." honeybeesuite


----------



## EvanS (Feb 27, 2015)

This news is a little disappointing. I bought ten lbs of buckwheat seed to plant this year. The area I am planting has very moist soil, so maybe that will help. Luckily I also got 5 lbs of yellow sweet clover.


----------



## funwithbees (Mar 27, 2010)

Silver hull is the one. It is an old open pollinated variety. the new hybrids do not produce much nectar, we usually look for an area of at least 20 acres or more. the 1-5 acre plots are not big enough to produce honey for more than a hive or 2. we had bees a few years ago on 50 acres of beautiful buckwheat , I was told the bees will love it when asked about the variety. It was supplied by Burkett Mills. yes the bees loved it. you could smell the fragrance of the flowers as the breeze blew across the field toward the hives. The weather was great.The bees made some light brown honey-mostly goldenrod-with a very very very slight hint of buckwheat and a wonderful crop of buckwheat groats for the mill. Not the strong black honey we expected.:v:
Nick
gridleyhollow.com


----------

