Honey bee forage in Lake Colorado City, Texas

When is the honey flow in Lake Colorado City?

• First forage: Jan 16 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Feb 16 to Jun 15, peaking late Mar (summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Fall flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 (cotton)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Lake Colorado City, 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 12.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion; white, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), 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; amber
• Whole season (March to November): cotton, summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red; 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

• Sorghum: about 63 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jun (grown 5 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Aug (grown 2 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 Lake Colorado City

Mostly: Western Great Plains Mesquite Shrubland; Great Plains Comanchian Ruderal Shrubland; Central Mixedgrass Prairie Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: open water 0.12 mi SE; pond, lake or river 0.13 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 Lake Colorado City ranks

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

About 49% 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

Westbrook 4 mi · Colorado City 6 mi · Loraine 14 mi · Coahoma 22 mi · Hermleigh 23 mi · Sand Springs 24 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 Lake Colorado City (32.3465, -100.9375); 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.