Honey bee forage in Julesburg, Colorado

When is the honey flow in Julesburg?

• First forage: Mar 1 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: May 1 to Aug 15, peaking early Jul (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Julesburg, 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 May 2.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), alfalfa, sunflower, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, 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), garden flowers, clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, alfalfa; 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

• Corn: about 4,208 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Sunflower: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug (grown 4 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 Julesburg

Mostly: Central Mixedgrass Prairie Grassland; Corn; Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.22 mi NE; pond, lake or river 0.45 mi SE.

How Julesburg ranks

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

About 39% 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

Ovid 7 mi · Sedgwick 14 mi · Amherst 21 mi · Holyoke 28 mi · Paoli 28 mi · Crook 29 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 Julesburg (40.9849, -102.2627); 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.