Honey bee forage in High Rolls, New Mexico

When is the honey flow in High Rolls?

• First forage: Mar 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion, native wildflowers)
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jul 15, peaking early May (summer-flowering shrubs, spring-flowering shrubs, native wildflowers)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of High Rolls, 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 May 4.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): summer-flowering shrubs, spring-flowering shrubs, native wildflowers, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Summer honey (July and August): summer-flowering shrubs, native wildflowers, snowberry, spotted and diffuse knapweed; light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Fall honey (September to November): rabbitbrush, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, spotted and diffuse knapweed; amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): summer-flowering shrubs, spring-flowering shrubs, native wildflowers, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Cherries: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
• Apples: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late Apr – early May

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 High Rolls

Mostly: Southern Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Woodland; Madrean Pinyon-Juniper Woodland; Madrean Upper Montane Conifer-Oak Forest and Woodland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.04 mi S; pond, lake or river 0.5 mi SW.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cherries, sweet: insecticides used on about 84% of surveyed US acres (2025); Cherries, tart: insecticides used on about 45% of surveyed US acres (2025); Apples: insecticides used on about 77% 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 High Rolls ranks

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

About 94% 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

Cloudcroft 4 mi · La Luz 8 mi · Twin Forks 9 mi · Alamogordo 10 mi · Boles Acres 13 mi · Mescalero 14 mi

All towns in New Mexico · 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 High Rolls (32.9337, -105.8027); 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.