Honey bee forage in Mutual, Oklahoma

When is the honey flow in Mutual?

• First forage: Feb 16 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 31, peaking early Apr (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Fall flow: Aug 16 to Aug 31 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster))
• Season ends: Oct 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Mutual, 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 6.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, alfalfa; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), cotton, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), cotton, garden flowers; amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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

• Sunflower: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jul – early Sep (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Alfalfa: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul (grown 3 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 Mutual

Mostly: Central Mixedgrass Prairie Grassland; Western Great Plains Sand Prairie; Winter Wheat.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.47 mi NE; open water 0.96 mi N.

Things to watch

• Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 42% 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 Mutual ranks

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

Nearby

Vici 9 mi · Sharon 10 mi · Chester 14 mi · Mooreland 14 mi · Seiling 15 mi · Camargo 16 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 Mutual (36.2305, -99.168); 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.