~ ee 
Beekeeping in the Buckwheat Region. 9 
before surplus honey is available. On the other hand, colonies that 
are retarded in their development early in the season, by bad winter- 
ing, by the presence of European foulbrood, or by lack of stores, may 
not reach complete development even in time for the late honey-flow 
from this source. It is therefore necessary for best results that the 
beekeeper of the buckwheat region practice those methods which will 
produce full-strength colonies early in the season to combat Euro- 
pean foulbrood, and then that he so modify his system as to cause 
the colonies to have the greatest possible population of young vigor- 
ous bees at the beginning of the secretion of nectar from buckwheat. 
A failure to have the colonies strong and at the same time composed 
of young, vigorous bees at the beginning of the buckwheat honey 
harvest is the cause of the loss of tons of honey from this source 
annually. 
It will thus be seen that the proper care of bees during winter is a 
serious problem throughout the buckwheat region; in fact, there is 
no place where this is more important. This has not been fully 
recognized, because of the lateness of the secretion period. It is also 
evident that after brood-rearing has begun it must progress rapidly 
in order that the colonies may be able to combat European foulbrood 
successfully, and only young, vigorous queens can,lay the eggs neces- 
sary for such a development of the colony. Abundant stores are 
needed in the early part of the year, but beekeepers frequently neglect 
to provide these, although usually there are fall sources of honey 
which are stored in the brood-nest, making it less necessary to give 
additional stores in the spring than is usual for strictly clover areas. 
It is also unfortunately true that many of the bees of the region 
are of the inferior German or black variety, and this race is espe- 
_ cially susceptible to European foulbrood. The scrub queens of this 
variety may begin egg-laying at a good rate, but too frequently fail 
before the colonies are up to full strength, thus making them still 
more prone to contract disease. Methods for remedying these de- 
fects will be discussed later, but it is evident that the production of 
a crop of honey from buckwheat requires a high degree of skill on 
the part of the beekeeper. The chief causes of failure in this region 
are, therefore, poor wintering, inferior stock, and a failure to adapt 
the beekeeping practices to the peculiarities of the time of blooming 
of this source. 
TYPE OF HONEY TO BE PRODUCED. 
The honey from buckwheat is darker than any other honey pro- 
duced in large quantities in the United States and the flavor is strong. 
Such honey should never be put on the general honey markets of the 
country in the form of comb-honey. There is always a small local 
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