Buckwheat in Cork

rayban

Well-Known Member
Anybody planting buckwheat in the Cork area in 2020. Would like to try honey bees on it
 
Many would have buckwheat planted during the autumn as part of cover crops, but you may find it difficult to find someone with a summer cover crop(unless its included in wild bird covers??) if your not prepared to travel
 
Anybody planting buckwheat in the Cork area in 2020. Would like to try honey bees on it

Sorry to hijack the thread but I was checking calves this morning and I noticed a swarm of honey bees taking up residence in a nearby tree. They were definitely not there a couple of days before. Now I'm just wondering if these poor bees had their own hive destroyed and are now totally goosed for the winter?
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but I was checking calves this morning and I noticed a swarm of honey bees taking up residence in a nearby tree. They were definitely not there a couple of days before. Now I'm just wondering if these poor bees had their own hive destroyed and are now totally goosed for the winter?

Sounds like they swarmed. Fairly normal I think.

Beekeeper’s often catch these swarms and put them in a hive.

Perhaps these people might put you in touch with a local beekeeper.

https://irishbeekeeping.ie/education/beginning-with-bees/
 
Well talked to the experts and they are wild bumblebees. They definitely moved house so winter supplies will be low. The bee man said that ivy would give them going or the syrup in it might sustain them for the winter.
Could you put up a sugar syrup feeder? Or is that a no no?
 
A swarm of honey bees would be too late now to survive to get a queen mated and built up strong enough for the winter , the drones for the most part are well gone by now
Looking for the buckwheat in flower for 2020 , some have apparently contracts to grow it for seed from what I am hearing
 
the drones for the most part are well gone by now

That's what you would think, but it's not what I'm seeing in North Cork. Loads of drones everywhere. Have heard reports of swarming over the past fortnight though mine seem to be ok.

Massive ivy honey flow during September, this is a hive I was feeding after taking back from the Heather (total failure here), left the feeders on for two weeks and this is what I found on Sunday.
IMG_20190929_143833.jpg
A swarm of honey bees would be too late now to survive to get a queen mated and built up strong enough for the winter
Yes, almost certainly too late now, but with an old queen a swarm early in September this year would have had a good chance.

Looking for the buckwheat in flower for 2020 , some have apparently contracts to grow it for seed from what I am hearing
Supposed to be a very high quality honey, I'd love to get bees on it too.
 
Great to see more bee experts on here. Just out of interest what is considered a fair price for a jar of honey. I paid 8 quid for a jar of unfiltered honey from the local farmers market at the weekend. Made no odds to me as a jar would do me a long time but was just wondering what the run of it would be.

Half a dozen organic eggs were 3 euro in another store... thought that was expensive particularly as when I was a kid we sold half a dozen for 50 pence... :lol:
 
I charge €7 at the front door. If I was dragging it to market i'd certainly be looking for that or more for it.

I was trying to justify all the time I spend with the bees to my wife by estimating what this years harvest is worth in €7 jars, but she pointed out that a) I'd spent more that that on equipment this year and b) at even a minimum wage hourly labour rate I'm losing money hand over fist. I love it though so my labour is free.
 
I charge €7 at the front door. If I was dragging it to market i'd certainly be looking for that or more for it.

I was trying to justify all the time I spend with the bees to my wife by estimating what this years harvest is worth in €7 jars, but she pointed out that a) I'd spent more that that on equipment this year and b) at even a minimum wage hourly labour rate I'm losing money hand over fist. I love it though so my labour is free.
Excellent thanks for that. I know jars of the manuka honey go for mad money and I have no doubt that there will be no millionaires out of local honey at 7 or 8 euro a jar. I have a relative who supplies us with a bit when they come to visit so this was the first time I've bought honey in years.

I must see what a jar is in the supermarket for.the hunt of it but I would consider the local stuff we have used a very different product to anything I've had from a store before
 
I have a spoon of honey almost every day. IMO its one of these superfoods that nutritionists go on about. Generally get it from the local beekeeper but from time to time have to resort to boyne valley or similar blends of EU and non EU honey. The stuff from Lidl l tried once but would say its 2% honey and 98% corn syrup or something.
How its legal to market that as honey beats me.
 
Excellent thanks for that. I know jars of the manuka honey go for mad money and I have no doubt that there will be no millionaires out of local honey at 7 or 8 euro a jar. I have a relative who supplies us with a bit when they come to visit so this was the first time I've bought honey in years.

I must see what a jar is in the supermarket for.the hunt of it but I would consider the local stuff we have used a very different product to anything I've had from a store before

I have a spoon of honey almost every day. IMO its one of these superfoods that nutritionists go on about. Generally get it from the local beekeeper but from time to time have to resort to boyne valley or similar blends of EU and non EU honey. The stuff from Lidl l tried once but would say its 2% honey and 98% corn syrup or something.
How its legal to market that as honey beats me.

There was a bit of a scandal in the artisan food world a couple of years ago, a woman won several awards for her "natural honey" and was the darling of the foodie types who were raving about the quality and flavour, turned out she was just buying cheap stuff in the supermarket and relabeling it. I must see if I can find an article about it.
 
I have a spoon of honey almost every day. IMO its one of these superfoods that nutritionists go on about. Generally get it from the local beekeeper but from time to time have to resort to boyne valley or similar blends of EU and non EU honey. The stuff from Lidl l tried once but would say its 2% honey and 98% corn syrup or something.
How its legal to market that as honey beats me.
Yes syrup is how I would describe the taste of some store bought stuff I've had over the years. The home produced stuff had much more kick, is thicker and tastier I thought.
 
There was a bit of a scandal in the artisan food world a couple of years ago, a woman won several awards for her "natural honey" and was the darling of the foodie types who were raving about the quality and flavour, turned out she was just buying cheap stuff in the supermarket and relabeling it. I must see if I can find an article about it.

And that was only one strand of that story. All finished tragically aswell :no:
 
I have a spoon of honey almost every day. IMO its one of these superfoods that nutritionists go on about. Generally get it from the local beekeeper but from time to time have to resort to boyne valley or similar blends of EU and non EU honey. The stuff from Lidl l tried once but would say its 2% honey and 98% corn syrup or something.
How its legal to market that as honey beats me.
My vet said he takes a spoonful every day and never get a cold, his claim was that local honey was the best because of the antibodies it contained, armed with this info I bought a jar of local honey and set about this spoonful a day ritual, my nose literally ran off my face so much so that I gave it up and haven't touched the stuff since, maybe I'm allergic to it..
 
My vet said he takes a spoonful every day and never get a cold, his claim was that local honey was the best because of the antibodies it contained, armed with this info I bought a jar of local honey and set about this spoonful a day ritual, my nose literally ran off my face so much so that I gave it up and haven't touched the stuff since, maybe I'm allergic to it..
You're supposed to eat it, not snort it............ old habits die hard I suppose........ :whistle:
 
There was a bit of a scandal in the artisan food world a couple of years ago, a woman won several awards for her "natural honey" and was the darling of the foodie types who were raving about the quality and flavour, turned out she was just buying cheap stuff in the supermarket and relabeling it. I must see if I can find an article about it.

And that was only one strand of that story. All finished tragically aswell :no:
Yea l remember that. It shows the power of a marketing image i suppose. Similar with free range eggs.
 
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