| Family： | Polygonaceae |
| Genus： | Fagopyrum |
| Species： | F. esculentum |
| Common names： | Buckwheat |
| ZBAS | 9 (0 to 10) Zach’s bee attraction score |
While trying to search my 4 TB of photos (mostly of bees on flowers) from the last 25 years (started in 2001 using digital cameras), I realized buckwheat, of which I have many photos, had not been blogged yet. It typically blooms in August also, but that is “flexible” depending on planting time. So you could get them to bloom in July or September if you plant them early or late. This plant is an annual crop, sometimes planted as a cover crop, plowed over to increase the fertility of farmland. But buckwheat is also a health food, high in fiber and good for diabetic patients.
It is quite attractive to honey bees and can produce a large crop of honey. The honey produced is dark and has a strong smell. You should sell the honey as a monofloral honey, meaning you extract honey before placing colonies near buckwheat field and then extract again once their bloom is over. This way you can label it as buckwheat honey and command a slightly higher price ($1-2 more per pound than regular honey). One study from UIUC indicated that this darker color was due to higher flavonoid content, which also possesses anticancer properties.
I was invited by a Michigan beekeeper, Terry Klein, Aug 16, 2007 to visit his bees at a buckwheat field. The state asked him to place bees there to provide pollination for the crop so that more birds would be attracted to the area and to increase income for the DNR from hunting licenses. He did not get paid but the honey yield is quite high so it was a good thing for him.
1. A beautiful photo showing the attractive buckwheat flowers and a honey bee foraging on them. 
2. A close-up of a honey bee foraging on buckwheat. 
3. Another bee photo; in this one, the forager appears quite old, with her wings tethered (broken at the edges) due to too many flights. A forager’s useful life, once started foraging, is about 10 days and this bee is near the end of her life. Most foragers die in the field while foraging and simply do not make it home. 
5. 5. A photo taken in 2003 showing the price of buckwheat honey at $4 a pound. Currently, it is close to $10.
References:
1. Dark Honey Has More Illness-Fighting Agents Than Light Honey. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/07/980708085352.htm
2. Nešović M, Gašić U, Tosti T, Horvacki N, Šikoparija B, Nedić N, Blagojević S, Ignjatović L, Tešić Ž. Polyphenol profile of buckwheat honey, nectar and pollen. R Soc Open Sci. 2020 Dec 9;7(12):201576. doi: 10.1098/rsos.201576. PMID: 33489289; PMCID: PMC7813236.
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