Honey bee forage in San Pablo, New Mexico

When is the honey flow in San Pablo?

• First forage: Jan 16 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Feb 1 to Jul 15, peaking early Mar (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of San Pablo, 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 10.

What the honey is made of

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

• Cotton: about 240 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Apr – late Jun (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late May – early Jul (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 San Pablo

Mostly: Pecans; Developed, low intensity (houses and yards); Chihuahuan Stabilized Coppice Dune and Sand Flat Scrub.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.14 mi SW; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.4 mi SE.

Things to watch

• Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 41% 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 San Pablo ranks

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

Nearby

Tortugas 1 mi · University Park 2 mi · Mesilla 3 mi · Las Cruces 5 mi · Fairacres 6 mi · San Miguel 7 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 San Pablo (32.2507, -106.7626); 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.