fi36 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURL 



(Conversations with Doolittle 



At BorodimOo New York. 



RAISING BUCKWHEAT. 



" Please tell something about buckwheat 

 culture. If we beekeepers who have land 

 would all make a specialty of buckwheat for 

 our gi'ain crop it seems to me we could 

 make it profitable." 



The first thing to be considered is the 

 preparation of the soil. Those most success- 

 ful with buckwheat as a grain crop in this 

 locality plow the ground in early spring 

 before the land is generally dry enough (o 

 plow for other crops. It is now allowed to 

 lie till the general " spring work " is done, 

 when it is gone over with a harrow and 

 " fined up," which kills most weeds and 

 grass which may have started. Then at 

 sowing time it is harrowed again ; or if that 

 is not sufficient, it is cultivated with a two- 

 horse cultivator till the soil is made fine and 

 mellow. This fits the soil to better advan- 

 tage than can generally be done if the plow- 

 ing is not done till the time of sowing. The 

 buckwheat is still sown by some " broad- 

 cast," but most people use the grain-drill. 



There are two or three kinds of American 

 buckwheat — the black, the gray, and the 

 silverhull, all having nearly the same habit 

 of growth. Then there is the Jaj^anese va- 

 riety, which was introduced into this coun- 

 try some forty years ago, which is pretty 

 well liked as a grain crop ; but it is not near- 

 ly so good as the others for the beekeeper, 

 as it is inferior in the yield of honey. There 

 seems to be a tendency at •the present time 

 to sow mostly the American varieties, much 

 to the liking of the apiarists. 



Buckwheat is a plant that is very branch- 

 ing in its habits as compared with other 

 grains, each branch giving many flowerets 

 which "fill" with grain rather better than 

 does the highest top stem. For this reason 

 three pecks of the grain is considered an 

 abundance to sow on an acre. 



The time of sowing is from June 25 to 

 July 10, as a rule, here in central New 

 York. But there are a few farmers who 

 will sow as early as June 10; and where 

 thus sown, if the fields yield nectar, it is a 

 curse to the beekeeper rather than a bless- 

 ing, as it will bloom before basswood gels 

 past, thus " throwing " much of what would 

 othenvise be fancy white honey into No. 2 

 or 3 grade for the markets. Others do not 

 sow till from the 15th to 20th of July, and 

 these late-sown fields are a great blessing to 

 the beekeeper, as they help colonies short in 

 stores to stock up for winter, and give tlie 

 colonies a greater proportion of young bees 



for winter, thus insuring against spring 

 dwindling, other things being equal. The 

 reason for the very early sowing is not ap- 

 parent, except for some " whim." But it is 

 conceded that the grain " fills " to a mach 

 greater extent when cool nights prevail at 

 just the right stage of growth than can be 

 possible where the nights are hot and the 

 weather dry. And the yields of grain show 

 this where the frosts hold off till the grain 

 is fit to cut. But some years we have an 

 early frost, as was the case last year, where 

 hundreds of acres are killed so early that 

 there is nothing left after the frost worth 

 the harvesting. In such case the fields are 

 left untouched, for there is some little value 

 in this frost-killed vegetation as fertilizer. 



As to the yield, there is a wide range. If 

 the nights and days are just right, forty 

 bushels to the acre is sometimes secured. 

 At other times only ten bushels to the acie 

 may be the result.* Why do I speak of the 

 days'? Because the rule is that, in propor- 

 tion as the bees store honey from the buck- 

 wheat flowers, in about that proportion will 

 be the yield of grain, as the flowers are fer- 

 tilized by insects. Some years when there 

 is great humidity the nights will be cool, 

 with a fog over the fields till from six to 

 seven in the morning, when the " sun will 

 break out," and a person's clothes soon be 

 wet with perspiration, continuing thus all 

 day, when a cool dampness will again settle 

 down, and the next day be a succession of 

 what was passed through the day before. 

 With such days as these, after such nights, 

 the bees " buckle " in all day long, and the 

 results as to pounds of nectar gathered will 

 be equal to that from any source with which 

 I am familiar — even basswood not exceed- 

 ing. But more often the nights are warm; 

 the sun rises clear and bright ; the bees start 

 out with a rush, gather quite rapidly till ten 

 to eleven, with nothing " more to do " that 

 day. Then with dry hot south winds or rain," 

 or cold north winds, during the whole time 

 the buckwheat is in bloom, no more nectar 

 will be obtained than is needed for brood, 

 and the end comes with little more honey in 

 the hives than at the end of basswood. 



The matured crop is generally cut with a 

 binder, as this is the quickest way. Just 

 as soon as it is dry enough to thrash it is 

 drawn and thrashed before it has time to 

 " sweat." The straw is considered worthless 

 except for bedding or as a fertilizer. 



* The price of the grain ranges from 85 cts. to 

 $1.30 per 100 lbs., according to the average yie'd 

 ppr acre. 



