Buckwheat
A fast-growing crop rich in nectar, secreting mainly in the morning; it yields the dark, strongly flavoured buckwheat honey.
- Nectar
- Very good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Honey yield
- 50–150 kg/ha
- Crystallisation
- Medium
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 0,5-1,2 m
- Life cycle
- Annual
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Buckwheat is one of the most productive nectar plants. Nectar flows abundantly early in the morning and largely stops in the afternoon, so bees work the field heavily in the mornings. Warm days, cool nights and humid air increase secretion; hot, dry winds stop it. It yields more honey on light, sandy soils.
Flowering
It flowers 4-6 weeks after sowing, and flowering lasts 30-40 days. With staggered sowings a long flow can be obtained from June to September, bridging the summer dearth.
Honey and pollen
The honey is dark brown, with a heavy aroma and a sharp, slightly bitter taste; it crystallises with coarse grains. The pollen loads are pale yellow.
Note for the beekeeper
It can be sown as a second crop after harvest or as green manure. For seed yield 2-3 colonies per hectare are enough; the apiary should be within a few hundred metres of the field.