Well since I only have a dozen hives I probably don't need 50 acres =).  I
tilled the land last year and had a cover crop of oats on it I had left
over from another project.  I'm going to try to get my dad's old grain
drill operational for the Spring, but there's one I can borrow if needed.

I was hoping to get continuous bloom, which is why I was going to do a
couple different plantings, rather than having a 3-4 week lag in between
patches, and then repeat by tilling under.  I've used it as cover before
and when I let it go to seed (which is usually) it comes back after tilling
the next year.  I prefer it as a garden weed because it's easy to kill with
the tiller or hoe.  Ideally I can harvest a stand of it for seed the next
year, the stuff keeps forever, I planted some by hand that had sat in the
barn for better than a decade and it came up just fine.

I have heard that some varieties are better at producing nectar than
others, but have been unable to find any supporting data, obviously
environmental conditions have a large impact as well.  Anyone have any
experience with different varieties?  The local feed store just carries
generic large buckwheat or something.

I seem to recall it only produces nectar in the mornings as well.  With any
luck (which I seem to have little of) they can work buckwheat in the
morning and legumes in the afternoon.  At least it gives me something to do
with the field that isn't too terribly expensive.

Jeremy
West Michigan

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm