Honey bee forage in Jonesville, Louisiana

When is the honey flow in Jonesville?

• First forage: Jan 1 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jun 30, peaking late Apr (soybeans, cotton)
• Season ends: Aug 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Jonesville, 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 Mar 1.

What the honey is made of

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

• Soybeans: about 3,090 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Apr – late Jun (grown 5 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 251 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 917 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms early May – early Jun (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early May – early Jun (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 Jonesville

Mostly: Southeastern Native Ruderal Forest; Mississippi River High Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0 mi S; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0 mi S.

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 Jonesville ranks

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

About 37% 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

Wallace Ridge 4 mi · Harrisonburg 10 mi · Monterey 14 mi · Ferriday 16 mi · Jena 18 mi · Ridgecrest 18 mi

All towns in Louisiana · 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 Jonesville (31.6223, -91.8344); 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.