Honey bee forage in Little Creek, Delaware

When is the honey flow in Little Creek?

• First forage: Mar 16 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31, peaking early Jul (soybeans)
• Season ends: Sep 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Little Creek, 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 18.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): soybeans, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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, clovers: white, alsike and red; amber, likely to set over some months
• Whole season (March to November): soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), dandelion; 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

• Soybeans: about 1,637 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 1,769 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul (grown 3 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 Little Creek

Mostly: Open water; Southeastern Ruderal Wet Meadow & Marsh; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Salt Marsh.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.09 mi SE; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.13 mi SE.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% 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 Little Creek ranks

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

About 33% 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

Dover Base Housing 4 mi · Dover 4 mi · Kent Acres 4 mi · Highland Acres 5 mi · Rising Sun-Lebanon 6 mi · Rodney Village 6 mi

All towns in Delaware · 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 Little Creek (39.1659, -75.4481); 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.