Honey bee forage in Arlington, Kansas

When is the honey flow in Arlington?

• First forage: Feb 16 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 15, peaking late Jun (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), soybeans, clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Arlington, 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 15.

What the honey is made of

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

• Soybeans: about 110 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 156 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Sunflower: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 1 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 Arlington

Mostly: Central Mixedgrass Prairie Grassland; Western Great Plains Sand Prairie; Northern & Central Plains Ruderal & Planted Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.16 mi E; pond, lake or river 0.19 mi N.

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 Arlington ranks

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

About 53% 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

Abbyville 5 mi · Partridge 7 mi · Langdon 9 mi · Plevna 9 mi · Pretty Prairie 12 mi · Sylvia 13 mi

All towns in Kansas · 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 Arlington (37.8963, -98.1781); 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.