Honey bee forage in Sterling City, Texas

When is the honey flow in Sterling City?

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

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Sterling 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; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), garden flowers, dandelion, clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set over some months
• Fall honey (September to November): garden flowers, fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
• Whole season (March to November): summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, 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

• Sorghum: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jun (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, 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 Sterling City

Mostly: Great Plains Comanchian Ruderal Shrubland; Western Great Plains Mesquite Shrubland; Llano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and Breaks Shrubland and Steppe.

Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.13 mi S; pond, lake or river 0.55 mi NW.

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 Sterling City ranks

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

About 70% 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

Carlsbad 26 mi · Forsan 29 mi · Garden City 30 mi · Robert Lee 30 mi · Grape Creek 31 mi · Lake Colorado City 35 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 Sterling City (31.8392, -100.9859); 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.