Beekeeping in the Buckwheat Region. 5 
acres of buckwheat in Ontario for the past 36 years has been 118,648 
per annum. In 1918 the acreage of buckwheat in the United States 
was 1,027,000, an increase of 27 per cent over the average for 1912- 
1916. In 1919 the acreage was 739,000. 
VARIATIONS WITHIN THE REGION. 
As indicated previously, this species is less valuable from the 
standpoint of nectar secretion in its western range because of less 
acreage. It appears also not to secrete nectar so freely when grown 
outside its optimum distribution, probably because of the special 
requirements of temperature, soil, and moisture in the abundant 
EACH DOT REPRESENTS 1000. ACRES 
Fig. 2.—Map showing the principal buckwheat-producing region of the United States. 
‘secretion of nectar in this species. It secretes best on the Volusia 
and DeKalb soils, which are formed by the disintegration of shale 
and sandstone, especially in the glaciated plateau region of New 
York and Pennsylvania. It secretes best in regions where the nights 
are cool and the mean temperature during the blooming period does 
not exceed 70° F. So far as known, the nectar is always dark in 
color and the resulting honey is strong in flavor. The color varia- 
tion observed in the nectar of other honey plants is not observed in 
this species. 
