Honey bee forage in Valencia, New Mexico

When is the honey flow in Valencia?

• First forage: Feb 1 (dandelion)
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15, peaking early Apr (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, alfalfa)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Valencia, 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 5.

What the honey is made of

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

• Alfalfa: about 93 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SW, 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 Valencia

Mostly: Inter-Mountain Basins Semi-Desert Grassland; Inter-Mountain Basins Mixed Salt Desert Scrub; Western Warm Temperate Pasture and Hayland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.34 mi E; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.4 mi N.

Things to watch

• Heavily developed. About 65% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). 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 Valencia 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

Peralta 2 mi · El Cerro 2 mi · Bosque Farms 3 mi · El Cerro Mission 3 mi · Monterey Park 4 mi · Chical 4 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 Valencia (34.8053, -106.6869); 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.