Thanks Dave ! that's a good explanation.
Now anybody got any OL TIME SEED ? i have been planting nothing but the
current seed stock from the seed companies. thanks again

-----Original Message-----
From: David L. Green [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2001 8:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Buckwheat Honey


In a message dated 2/8/01 6:34:27 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< I'd like to thank everybody for sending their responses about the ratios
of
 colonies per acre of  buckwheat, but really i have recieved a vast scale
 from 1 to 35 colonies per acre. this seems to be an extreme difference.
Does
 anybody on the list produce buckwheat honey? >>

   That's pretty extreme. For honey production purposes, a hive per acre is
probably already above the max. You are just dividing the honey amongst more
hives. Personally, I'd rather go with a hive on three or four acres. If you
can find someone growing the old fashioned varieties you are ahead, but the
modern varieties will not yield near as much. There were honey producers in
the 1940's and early '50's that easily made 200 pound surpluses from
buckwheat alone.

   When you hear of a hive or more per acre, you are talking about
pollination. The grower wants to maximize bee activity, so we jam on bees
until they are a bit hungry, thus the payments for our services. When we are
working for honey, we want the bees to "stuff themselves," so they make a
surplus for us.

   Folks sometimes jump into pollination, thinking that they will do that in
addition to the honey they make. If they learn to do pollination well, they
learn that pollination is something you do instead of making honey with your
bees.

    A good read, if you can find a used copy is "Bees are My Business" by
Harry Whitcomb. It tells of the early discoveries in managed alfalfa
pollination, and demonstrates the difference in management for pollination
and for honey.  I recently picked up another copy on the Internet for $8
plus
shipping. (Unfortunately I discovered how easy it is to find old books on
the
Internet, about the same time my wife discovered E-Bay, and the credit card
has been smoking.)

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com