# Buckwheat Honey.....



## Steve C (Jun 25, 2006)

I been reading Ole BC's and found this artical from a Mar 1910 Bee Culture....

http://www.myjavaserver.com/~steveciii/BC.htm

I have a small 1.5 to 2 acre field that I could plant, and was wondering if this is something worth while.....????
Is there a market for Buckwheat honey....????


Thanks


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

"Is there a market for Buckwheat honey....????"

I have a friend that had 7 hives on 10 acers of Buckwheat and it rained about the time it realy started to bloom (got only about 15 gal) but he is selling it for $60.00 per gal!


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## sierrabees (Jul 7, 2006)

If you are retailing your own honey, you can develope a market for anything that is palatable. Just give away a free pound to some of your regular customers and ask them for their opinion. Some of them will be of the opinion that they want to buy some more and will tell their friends about "the new honey they discovered,"


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## applebwoi (Jun 20, 2006)

Anyone have a good source for a small quantity of buckwheat seed?


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## applebwoi (Jun 20, 2006)

Anyone have a good source for a small quantity of buckwheat seed?


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

make a nasty smellin' honey that looks a bit like recycled motor oil. it is difficult for me to understand how anyone could find buckwheat honey desirable, but then the time I tried to consume buckwheat honey I could not get past the smell.


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## Parke County Queen (May 22, 2006)

My uncle has a farm and wants me to put a couple of hives near his buckwheat field. I don't personally like dark honey, but am going to try next spring anyway.


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

It's all a matter of personal opinion. I really like, even prefer, dark honey like buckwheat.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I finally tried some this past year. It reminded me of that old table syrup that came in a can years ago. I guess its still sround, just not of seen it.

I thought the stuff was bitter or foul in some way. I just thought for all the hype, this stuff really stinks. I think it would have to be at the bottom of my rankings for honey.

I guess if you have a market, then its worth it. I just don't get it myself.


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## power napper (Apr 2, 2005)

Buckwheat honey on pancakes is out of this world!


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

Obviously, you will have to market your buckwheat honey in Pennsylvania.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Parke County Queen 
If you get more than you can sell contact me


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## Dwight (May 18, 2005)

I don't think you will get much honey out of an acre and a half of Buckwheat, unless there is nothing else blooning when the buckwheat blooms. 
My yard is full of white clover every summer during the main flow here and I have a hard time finding even a couple of bees working it. They bypass my yard in favor of the thousands of surrounding acres of flowers in bloom.


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## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

I planted about 3/4 acre of buckwheat this year and the bees really went to town on it in the morning. By lunchtime they were all working something else. From my best estimates I got about 5 gal. of honey from this small plot. When it was blooming the bees worked it about as hard as I've seen them work anything. 

I had an older couple from Florida that spend their summers in Pa. When they heard that I would have buckwheat honey for sale they practically camped out on my doorstep waiting for me to extract it. Once they tasted the end product they bought 2 gallons of it to take back to Florida with them.

I'll be the first to admit that the buckwheat I sold them wasn't pure buckwheat since there was other wildflower honey mixed in with it but it was close enough to buckwheat honey for them. It was definitely the darkest honey that my bees have ecer produced.

Next year I plan on planting 3-4 acres of it and placing a couple of hives smack dab in the middle of it to try to get a more pure form of honey out of it. What I have left of the honey from this year I am selling as wildflower honey and have not had any problem selling it to people that have a taste of it. The customers that specifically ask for buckwheat (and some of them do ask) I steer them to these particular bottles of this and explain that since the honey does have some wildflower honey in it I don't label it as buckwheat honey.

Personally I think the honey is a little but strong but doesn't have an objectionable smell or flavor. We use the leftovers from our bottling operation for ourselves.

[ November 06, 2006, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: carbide ]


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

We had 160 acres of it next to us last year. Very dark color and stronger tasting. As others have said, some like it and others do not. We had some try it and now that is all they want.


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

There was a time when much buckwheat was grown on the Canadian prairies and also when sugar was rationed. Honey was the only sweetener around and many an older folk have acquired the taste for buckwheat honey. I have a friend in Manitoba in an area that still grows quite a bit of it. He produced a load this year. If anybody wants some next season P.M. me and I could put you in touch with him ( I believe he is sold out). Personally I don't really care much for the stuff, but you can't argue with taste.

Jean-Marc


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

at the time of my exposure to buckwheat honey I was informed that there was a very strong ethnic oriented new york crowd that had a strong preference for the stuff.

walking into a warehouse of supers in the early summer months the smell was so strong from last years wet supers that it would almost take your breath away. it was the type of experience that almost made bee-go seem like a pleasantly perfumed fragence... well not quite really.


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## kensfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

"Anyone have a good source for a small quantity of buckwheat seed? "

Here in MD.. Southern States(Ag Feed Store).. sold in 50lb bags. Ask your local farmers.


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## buz (Dec 8, 2005)

Small clarification please: There is the tall growing buckwheat that people plant from the funny three sided seed...and then there is the wild buckwheat that grows close to the ground in dryer regions.

I suspect some good difference is had by bees on the two types. Anyone experienced in both varieties?


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## lazybeestudio.com (Aug 24, 2006)

Oprah named Buckwheat as one of the Top 10 "Superfoods." Ever since, we have seen a strong demand for buckwheat honey.

We offer it for $6 for 12oz. and have NO PROBLEM selling it. It looks great in a clear bear with a red spout!

I am selling it to trendy local restaurants and get $60 a gallon, as mentioned here. I think it would go great with a soft goat cheese and crackers?

Lazy Bee - Beekeeping and Soapmaking Supplies
http://www.lazybeestudio.com - (866) LAZY-BEE
"We work harder to make your beekeeping easier!"


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

lazybee sezs:
I am selling it to trendy local restaurants and get $60 a gallon

tecumseh rethinks outloud:
upon reconsideration... I think I could learn to get past the smell.


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## rapid524 (Mar 2, 2006)

applebwoi, I'm in Amarillo and have some extra buckwheat seed. PM me and I'll see if I can help you out.

Ronnie


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## jjgbee (Oct 12, 2006)

I produced wild california buckwheat honey in several desert regions. It is amber with a strong flavor. Many of my customers prefer it over milder honeys. The plant at near sea level with rainfall of 25 inch is one to two feet tall. It is not always a consistent producer, especially if a extreme heat wave hits during bloom. On the high desert with rainfall of 4 to 10 inch the varity is 6 to 12 inch tall and always a great producer. I have seen a varity at 10000 ft elevation that is 3 inch tall. Don't know if it produces. On the high desert there is thousands of acres of various buckwheat varietys.


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## Tulipwood (Jul 16, 2006)

"Anyone have a good source for a small quantity of buckwheat seed?"

Try Harmony Farm Supply (707) 823-9125 [email protected] or Peaceful Valley Farm Supply (888) 784-1722, www.groworganic.com.


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