Honey bee forage in Chillicothe, Texas

When is the honey flow in Chillicothe?

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

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Chillicothe, 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 21.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): garden flowers, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
• Whole season (March to November): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, cotton, 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 70 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early May – early Jul (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 332 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jun (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug (grown 4 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 Chillicothe

Mostly: Winter Wheat; Great Plains Comanchian Ruderal Grassland; Western Great Plains Mesquite Shrubland.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.32 mi W; creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.36 mi W.

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 Chillicothe ranks

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

Nearby

Quanah 13 mi · Vernon 14 mi · Lockett 14 mi · Crowell 22 mi · Oklaunion 23 mi · Harrold 30 mi

All towns in Texas · 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 Chillicothe (34.2557, -99.5141); 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.