Honey bee forage in Kit Carson, Colorado

When is the honey flow in Kit Carson?

• First forage: Mar 1 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), native wildflowers)
• Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15, peaking early May (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 (fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Kit Carson, 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 29.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, native wildflowers; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), native wildflowers, clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), garden flowers, dandelion; amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; 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 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Jul (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 64 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Millet: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul (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 Kit Carson

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

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.04 mi E; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.15 mi S.

How Kit Carson ranks

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

About 77% 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

Eads 19 mi · Cheyenne Wells 24 mi · Brandon 29 mi · Haswell 29 mi · Arapahoe 34 mi · Sheridan Lake 34 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 Kit Carson (38.7628, -102.7955); 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.