# WOW--Fast Blooming Buckwheat



## beepro

Hi, All!

I must have planted the fast blooming buckwheat variety. They are sending out flower buds already after one month of planting.
I have never seen any flowering plants growing to maturity this fast. Surprise, surprise! Are buckwheat generally flowering this fast?
This will motivate me to grow some more for the Fall here. I'm sure my bees will appreciate these forage.

Fast maturing buckwheat flower buds:


----------



## drlonzo

Buckwheat normally from germination to first flowering takes about 30 to 35 days depending upon weather conditions. It will continue to put out spurts of bloom till it reaches full maturity around 4 feet tall. Each time it blooms it will develop seeds, they ripen with time and can be harvested as they ripen or at full maturity of the plant. Cutting them off at base you can harvest the seeds by thrashing the plant on a white sheet outside. The seeds can then be planted immediately for another crop if you have time. Buckwheat normally has a full maturity at about 65 days or so. 

Enjoy the blooms and watch your bees love it. They by the way will only work the bloom in the morning hours as buckwheat only produces nectar in the morning, but plenty of it during that time.


----------



## Chemguy

We decided to do a cover crop on our garden this Fall to help improve the soil, and settled on buckwheat. It will be tilled into the soil before it begins to die off. The seeds started germinating within 3 days, and they had their second leaves within a week. I was very surprised at how quickly this took place. No blooms yet, but based on what you've said I am thinking that at least two varieties are very fast growing.


----------



## biggraham610

drlonzo said:


> Buckwheat normally from germination to first flowering takes about 30 to 35 days depending upon weather conditions. It will continue to put out spurts of bloom till it reaches full maturity around 4 feet tall. Each time it blooms it will develop seeds, they ripen with time and can be harvested as they ripen or at full maturity of the plant. Cutting them off at base you can harvest the seeds by thrashing the plant on a white sheet outside. The seeds can then be planted immediately for another crop if you have time. Buckwheat normally has a full maturity at about 65 days or so.
> 
> Enjoy the blooms and watch your bees love it. They by the way will only work the bloom in the morning hours as buckwheat only produces nectar in the morning, but plenty of it during that time.


X2. Everything Doc said. With adequate rainfall buckwheat is an explosive producer. In drought it will hang around a while and wait. You are going to see an explosion of beautiful white blossoms. Im getting ready to till mine under now and take the volunteers that come up to the frost. Enjoy. Nice looking lush plants. G


----------



## Phoebee

We just planted buckwheat about 3 1/2 weeks ago and it is blooming, but the bees have not started working it yet.


----------



## beepro

The lush growing plants have a dripper system underneath their roots. Nutrients can be delivered
thru these dripper tubing onto the roots of these plants if needed be.

PB, I think they have not work on the flowers yet because there is a better source out there for
your bees. We are in the dearth here so they will be eager to work on mine, I think. We'll see when
they start blooming at the end of this week.


----------



## biggraham610

Phoebee said:


> We just planted buckwheat about 3 1/2 weeks ago and it is blooming, but the bees have not started working it yet.


They were working mine hard 2-3 weeks ago when things were all but dry. Now they are packing in nectar from a different source at great rates. They are beginning to expand the rainbow in the brood box starting the shrink for winter. G


----------



## TWall

Buckwheat is also notorious for having a nectar flow in the morning only. Hie foraging on it can get testy in the afternoon when thier food source dries up.

I have a local farmer that double crops about 100 acres of buckwheat after wheat. Three of us have moved some hives to his field. I was out there last Friday morning putting more supers on. You could smell the buckwheat honey in the air like golden rod honey.

One of the other guys told me, if the flow continues, he expects to get 200 lbs from three hives. 

I would like 30-40 lbs. I'm not sure what I would do with 200 lbs!

Buckwheat honey has a very unique flavor, strong. Not everyone likes it.

Tom


----------



## Phoebee

Well, I'm disappointed in our little patch. The girls are ignoring it. I made a special point of checking this morning.

The nuc is going after chicory, the big hive apparently is still after wingstem and the middle hive is not sure they care much but are after some pale yellow pollen. Not even the bumbles like our buckwheat, which is now about a month old and in full bloom. Didn't I read something here about several varieties of buckwheat, and not all of them impress the bees?


----------



## biggraham610

What I did read is that bees can be source-faithful. If they have a large amount of a certain plant they are getting good reward from, they will likely bypass a small patch of something different that could provide the same. Just what I read. As I say that there are hundreds on the sedum, planted along the driveways edge. With goldenrod abound. G


----------



## TWall

Plot size can be a factor also. If your little plot is small and there are other, more plentiful nectar sources available the bees may ignore a smaller source.

Tom


----------



## beepro

Although the plot size matters the quality of your food source is more important for the bees. The density
of a feed plot is also important than the sporatic bloom. Bees will also chose the more nutritious pollen source over the larger plot source. 
Distance is also important to them. They will feed at a closer range to their hive rather than flying over longer distance to
find their food source. Over the years I have done many bee experiments from queen rearing to some
of the commonly belief about honey bees. For example, I put a bee feeder a few feet from the hives while
at the same time the buckwheat are blooming now. The outcome is that they prefer the closer concentrated food source
than flying 50 feet further away to the buckwheat. There are still some bees on the buckwheat but not as many
as the bee feeder at closer range. 

Here are the bee feeder vs buckwheat experiment today:


----------



## Nu Bee

I looked up buckwheat seeds and there are tons of them... what kind did you buy?
Em


----------



## Phoebee

We picked up whatever generic variety they carry at Southern States, and that bugs me because some people say there are certain varieties bees like better. We're still not having much luck with our too small patch.

I have not found much data from USDA on buckwheat soil requirements. We have a problem getting clover to do much, and a couple of weeks back I did some soil chemistry and found our soil was too acid and lacks P and K, both essential for white clover to flourish. Probably a lot of our problems getting attractive forage on our property is due to the depleted soil. We started a test today with a fertilizer spec'd to fix the problem.


----------



## clyderoad

Maybe this info will be helpful:

Nectar production in buckwheat
Honey production from buckwheat is notoriously variable. Some apiarists understandably suspect that the difference is due to varieties, but no research has tested that. One of the specific suggestions is that recently developed varieties do not produce nectar. A number of research publications describe work where the investigators measured nectar production during the day.

Jana Lee and George Heimpel measured nectar in Mancan buckwheat. Mancan is an early example of the larger seeded “Japanese-type” varieties. There was abundant nectar in mid-morning, but it had been removed by afternoon. Caged plants still had all the nectar until late afternoon.

Valérie Cawoy and her coworker showed that buckwheat flowers produce nectar all day, and they do so all season long. In the field, there was little or no nectar in flowers checked in the afternoon. They used La Harpe, a French variety with medium sized seed.

One idea is that bees may be foraging for either nectar or pollen, with pollen foragers making much less honey. That was not the case in an investigation by Russell Goodman and coworkers. They found that all the bees visiting buckwheat collected nectar, and about a third also collected pollen. However, they did not measure whether pollen-foragers collected less nectar. They used Manor, which is the large-seeded “Japanese-type” variety used almost exclusively in the Northeast from the mid-1980s through 1999.

The evidence is that Japanese-type varieties produce nectar, and that bees collect it. In fact, Northeastern apiarists sometimes had good honey yields when Manor was the only variety around, so it can be a good nectar source. Some alternative explanations for variation in honey production are weather conditions that either limit nectar production or dilute the nectar too much, and also competition from other flowers that are more attractive.

It is still unknown how different varieties adjust nectar production in response to dry conditions, and how much nectar needs to be in a buckwheat flower for bees to visit.

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman/lab/buck/NL/june06.php


----------



## Danpa14

I always just , very lightly, disc it in when the seed starts to darken and harden some. Comes up quite well for me. Get 3 or more blooms over a summer. And if the timing is right is perfect for fall turkey season. They love the seeds.


----------



## beepro

Nu Bee said:


> I looked up buckwheat seeds and there are tons of them... what kind did you buy?
> Em


It is hard to locate the source of these seeds less knowing the variety. This is because different
buckwheat farmers grow different variety every year. If you can see the label, the seeds are grown in
North Dakota and the seller is from Washington state. So I have no way of knowing which variety they 
grow in ND. Maybe it was one of those fast growing hybrids. Anyways, I grew a small patch last year in
the early Fall and the bees were all over the flowers. Since it was late September they manage to collect enough honey
to overwinter. Now is that time to plant them again. This time I will try the succession planting and plant a bigger patch. 
Thanks for reminding me since I had totally forgotten about this bag of buckwheat seeds.


----------



## tech.35058

Yup. my little patch was blooming in about 3-4 weeks. I planted a second patch to cycle while the first one regenerated, & it has sprouted after only 4 or 5 days.
I have babied this stuff, & watered it, & the only bees I see on it are the occasional Bumbles.
my wife bought the seed, plain brown wrapper from an organic heirloom place.
I will order some "Mancan" variety & "silverhull" & try them ( if I can find them ), but unless it gets better, well, I dunno what I will do with the rest of my "brown bag seeds".
CE


----------



## TWall

Here is a source for rare varieties of buckwheat seed: http://sustainableseedco.com/_search.php?page=1&q=tokyo+buckwheat&x=0&y=0

I have not bought buckwheat seed from them.

Tom


----------



## beepro

The Japanese buckwheat is hard to find. Always sold out on certain
websites. Don't know how the honey compare to the other variety. Sure
would like to try if I can find it somehow. There are 2 varieties I believe so don't buy
the wrong one. In the mean time I'll stick with what I have before in this season.


----------



## Barry

TWall said:


> Buckwheat honey has a very unique flavor, strong. Not everyone likes it.


I would venture to say, most do not like it!


----------



## biggraham610

I have had mixed results, got a bag for ground cover anyway. I looked at the label, and to my surprise, my local farm store had Mancan this year. I don't think that is what I planted in the past, I have heard mixed reviews on Mancan, well, I just got 3-4 acres of it planted Saturday, and now we are having rain to be followed by hot sunny days. I look for it to take off. i will keep you posted on the success and my experience with nectar availability of the Mancan variety. G


----------



## Terry C

I just ordered some seed , what kind of soil prep do I need to do ? A light tilling , just scatter it or ...


----------



## biggraham610

I planted mine with an old Ford 309 corn planter with small seed plates and doubled rowed it. not because you need to, more because I bought the old planter at auction and love to use it on whatever I can. I have broadcast buckwheat and done very well in the past. I worked up the ground well, then lightly disked to leave light furrows, broadcast and dragged with a chain link drag to cover seed. Have used a cut cedar to accomplish the same. Buckwheat is pretty hardy, as long as you work up the ground and get it covered for maximum seed/soil contact, i would think you would be fine. G


----------



## Paramedicfirefighter

I'm looking to buy some buckwheat for my backyard and adjacent stream. Where can I find a small amount? I've done some searching trying to find the "Silver Hull" buckwheat but can't find anything? Any suggestions?

I'm a first year beek with one hive and want to have bee friendly plants in my yard.


----------



## biggraham610

I think I paid $52 for a 50lb bag at my local farm coop. I dont know about silver hull, but if you just google buckwheat seed for sale, you should find plenty of vendors. I think they say Japanese is supposed to be the best for the bees but, what do I know. How big a spot are you planting?


----------



## Paramedicfirefighter

I want to plant along the house and stream. I live in a suburban area with lots and lots of deer.


----------



## joens

Kelley sells it in 10 pound or 50 pound lots.
https://www.kelleybees.com/Shop/22/Queens-Bees/Feed/4324/Buckwheat-Seed
not the best price but if you only need a little.


----------



## biggraham610

Paramedicfirefighter said:


> I want to plant along the house and stream. I live in a suburban area with lots and lots of deer.


Oh, I should mention, deer love it too. Nothing ventured nothing gained though. G


----------



## joens

Here is another place that sells it online . http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/cover-crop/buckwheat-cover-crop-seed.html


----------



## beepro

Terry C said:


> I just ordered some seed , what kind of soil prep do I need to do ? A light tilling , just scatter it or ...


It depends on how big a patch you want to plant. If you plant acres of them then use a tractor. But if it is only a small
plot in your backyard then prep the soil well and water it well before putting the seeds in. 
For a small plot what I did was to soak the seeds overnight in a big bowl. The next day they should be sprouting a bit.
This is the time to plant them otherwise they will grow very fast. Without soaking the seeds first, it will take them longer to sprout on the ground.
Then work the soil well to loosening it up. And apply some compost and manure compost into the soil. And finally broadcast the
seeds about 1/4" next to each other. Do not worry about the closeness of the seeds because they will provide some support when
they grow taller. I use a layer of sawdust to cover the seeds and use a dripper hose system on a manual timer to water them. If you don't have the
irrigation then watering the tall plants from the top will knock them over. The bees like the tall blooming plants better than the fallen ones. The richer your
soil is the faster and stronger blooms they will have.


----------



## biggraham610

Terry C said:


> I just ordered some seed , what kind of soil prep do I need to do ? A light tilling , just scatter it or ...


I just planted mine Saturday, just today well over half of it has broken ground. I expect it will all be 4" by Sunday. Prepare the ground, spread, cover seed and water. G


----------



## BBees

I planted some buckwheat on August 6 just before we had some rain and it started sprouting in 3 days.I noticed that it started forming some flowers 8-23. I took this photo on 8-24. I hope the bees like it.


----------



## biggraham610

yeah, mine was 2 weeks old sat. Its about 10-12" not quite as thick as I would like but I can thank the deer for that. I will try and get some pics this weekend. G


----------



## roberto487

beepro said:


> The Japanese buckwheat is hard to find. Always sold out on certain
> websites. Don't know how the honey compare to the other variety. Sure
> would like to try if I can find it somehow. There are 2 varieties I believe so don't buy
> the wrong one. In the mean time I'll stick with what I have before in this season.


try this site; http://sustainableseedco.com/heirloom-grain-seed/buckwheat-seed/japanese-buckwheat.html


----------



## BBees

We had some rain on 8-30 and the flowers on my buckwheat opened up.On 8-31, I noticed a good many bees buzzing on the flowers about 9-10AM and a few bees in the afternoon 2-3PM. I noticed that my bees are bringing in orange,yellow,and cream colored pollen to the hives.


----------



## Dave1958

I planted buckwheat this spring. As some posters suggested it is only worked in my area till about 10 o'clock. I risked in down a out 3 weeks ago and sowed mustard/ turnips at the same time. While the deer ate some in the spring, they have absolutely devoured it to the point that there is no blooms/ plants above a couple inches tall. The mustard is growing( which I want for spring blooms), but it's only about 3 " also. We need a rain!!


----------



## tech.35058

Well on Halloween I got desperate , & finally roto tilled the garden & the buck wheat strips. I tilled in some winter peas in the garden, and pea oat clover mix in the "bee pasture". It looked like the buck wheat was going to shade out the peas, but last weeks cold snap pretty much knocked down the buckwheat. Peas look good it would be nice if the honey bees found something use full about them, though.
20/20 hind site, I wish I had mowed the bw before trying to roto-till it, & wish I had tilled some of it earlier to have fresh blooms up until cold killed the plants


----------

