Honey bee forage in Charlestown, Rhode Island

When is the honey flow in Charlestown?

• First forage: Mar 1 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar))
• Main flow: Apr 16 to Jun 30, peaking early May (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 (garden flowers, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Charlestown, 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 7.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), garden flowers; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): clovers: white, alsike and red, garden flowers, dandelion, summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Fall honey (September to November): garden flowers, clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, garden flowers, summer-flowering shrubs; 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

• Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Sweet corn: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms early Jul – 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 Charlestown

Mostly: Open water; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Hardwood Forest; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Maritime Forest.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.21 mi NW; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.22 mi NW.

Things to watch

• Heavily developed. About 56% 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. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% 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 Charlestown ranks

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

About 31% 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

Quonochontaug 5 mi · Carolina 6 mi · Bradford 7 mi · Weekapaug 8 mi · Wakefield-Peace Dale 8 mi · Kingston 8 mi

All towns in Rhode Island · 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 Charlestown (41.3781, -71.6266); 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.