Honey bee forage in Spearman, Texas

When is the honey flow in Spearman?

• First forage: Feb 16 (dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red)
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15, peaking early Apr (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 (cotton)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Spearman, 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 5.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), lindens / basswood; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton, garden flowers, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): cotton, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), garden flowers; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, cotton, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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

• Cotton: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late Jul – early Sep (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Sorghum: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 47 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul (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 Spearman

Mostly: Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie; Winter Wheat; Sorghum.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.57 mi SE; pond, lake or river 0.98 mi E.

Things to watch

• Lots of crops with little or no bee value. About 37% of the land within 3 miles is in crops bees get little from (such as wheat and other grains).
• Heavily developed. About 54% 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. 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 Spearman ranks

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

Nearby

Waka 10 mi · Gruver 13 mi · Farnsworth 15 mi · Morse 18 mi · Perryton 26 mi · Stinnett 29 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 Spearman (36.1982, -101.1943); 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.