Honey bee forage in Stratford, California

When is the honey flow in Stratford?

• First forage: Jan 16 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, almonds)
• Main flow: Feb 1 to Mar 15, peaking early Mar (almonds, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion)
• Fall flow: Apr 1 to Jul 15 (alfalfa, cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Aug 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Stratford, 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 Mar 2.

What the honey is made of

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

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Almonds: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Feb – late Mar
• Corn: about 368 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 497 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 156 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early Jun (grown 2 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 Stratford

Mostly: Pistachios; Fallow / idle cropland; Almonds.

Nearest mapped water: open water 0.2 mi S; pond, lake or river 0.27 mi SE.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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 Stratford ranks

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

Nearby

Lemoore Station 7 mi · Lemoore 8 mi · Armona 11 mi · Grangeville 12 mi · Home Garden 13 mi · Hanford 13 mi

All towns in California · 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 Stratford (36.1885, -119.8222); 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.