Honey bee forage in Calumet, Oklahoma

When is the honey flow in Calumet?

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

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Calumet, 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 30.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), alfalfa, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton, garden flowers; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), garden flowers, cotton; amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): alfalfa, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, 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 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms early May – late Jul (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Canola: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms late Apr – early Jun (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Sunflower: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late May – late 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 Calumet

Mostly: Winter Wheat; Great Plains Comanchian Ruderal Grassland; Central Mixedgrass Prairie Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.3 mi N; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.32 mi NW.

Things to watch

• Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 55% 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 Calumet ranks

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

Nearby

El Reno 10 mi · Geary 11 mi · Okarche 12 mi · Cedar Lake 13 mi · Bridgeport 15 mi · Hinton 15 mi

All towns in Oklahoma · 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 Calumet (35.6014, -98.1248); 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.