Honey bee forage in Avondale, Colorado

When is the honey flow in Avondale?

• First forage: Feb 16 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 15, peaking early Jul (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), alfalfa, dry Beans)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Avondale, 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 Apr 22.

What the honey is made of

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

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

Bee crops within flight range

• Corn: about 316 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Dry beans: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug (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 Avondale

Mostly: Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie; Alfalfa; Northern & Central Plains Ruderal & Planted Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.27 mi NE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.28 mi SE.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Pumpkins: insecticides used on about 75% 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 Avondale ranks

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

About 40% 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

Boone 5 mi · Vineland 6 mi · Blende 12 mi · Salt Creek 13 mi · Pueblo 14 mi · Fowler 19 mi

All towns in Colorado · 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 Avondale (38.2352, -104.3482); 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.