Honey bee forage in La Carla, Texas

When is the honey flow in La Carla?

• First forage: Jan 1 (roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), dandelion, native wildflowers)
• Main flow: Apr 1 to May 31, peaking early Apr (sunflower, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Dec 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of La Carla, 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 Feb 5.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): sunflower, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), summer-flowering shrubs; light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time
• Summer honey (July and August): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), rabbitbrush, cotton, garden flowers; amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), rabbitbrush, garden flowers; amber
• Whole season (March to November): sunflower, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber, likely to stay liquid a long time

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 408 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late Mar – late May (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 1,045 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SE, blooms late May – early 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 La Carla

Mostly: Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub; Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub; Tamaulipan Savanna Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.32 mi SE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.83 mi SE.

Things to watch

• 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 La Carla ranks

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

About 84% 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

Sammy Martinez 1 mi · Martinez 1 mi · Netos 2 mi · El Brazil 2 mi · El Rancho Vela 3 mi · El Mesquite 4 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 La Carla (26.4354, -98.7406); 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.