Honey bee forage in Picacho, Arizona

When is the honey flow in Picacho?

• First forage: Jan 1 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Jan 16 to Jul 15, peaking late Feb (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton, clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Picacho, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on Feb 19.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton, clovers: white, alsike and red, alfalfa; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton, garden flowers, rabbitbrush; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): rabbitbrush, garden flowers; dark amber
• Whole season (March to November): cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, alfalfa; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Cotton: about 474 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early Jun (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Chickpeas: about 335 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi W, blooms early Apr – early May (grown 1 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Picacho

Mostly: Sonora-Mojave Creosotebush-White Bursage Desert Scrub; Sonoran Paloverde-Mixed Cacti Desert Scrub; Pecans.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.49 mi E; open water 0.51 mi E.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025); Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024); Cantaloupes: insecticides used on about 87% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

How Picacho ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 50% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Eloy 6 mi · Arizona City 11 mi · Red Rock 12 mi · Coolidge 16 mi · Chuichu 17 mi · Cactus Forest 20 mi

All towns in Arizona · National map · How the scoring works

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021–2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Picacho (32.7102, -111.4943); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.