Honey bee forage in Bluff City, Kansas

When is the honey flow in Bluff City?

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

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Bluff City, 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 7.

What the honey is made of

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

• Alfalfa: about 140 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Canola: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early May – late Jun (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 Bluff City

Mostly: Winter Wheat; Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie; Great Plains Comanchian Ruderal Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.21 mi SW; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.24 mi S.

Things to watch

• Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 49% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
• 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 Bluff City ranks

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

Nearby

Anthony 11 mi · Danville 15 mi · Argonia 15 mi · Caldwell 15 mi · Milan 17 mi · Harper 17 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 Bluff City (37.0761, -97.8747); 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.