Honey bee forage in Carrollton, Virginia

When is the honey flow in Carrollton?

• First forage: Jan 16 (dandelion, early trees (maple, willow, poplar), roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15, peaking late Mar (clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Fall flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 (cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), soybeans)
• Season ends: Sep 30

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Carrollton, 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 28.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), soybeans; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• 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): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), garden flowers, cotton; amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): clovers: white, alsike and red, dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), soybeans; 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 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep (grown 3 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jun (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 Carrollton

Mostly: Open water; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Salt Marsh; Southern Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.09 mi SE; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.12 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 Carrollton ranks

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

About 53% 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

Benns Church 4 mi · Smithfield 6 mi · Newport News 9 mi · Portsmouth 11 mi · Bethel Manor 12 mi · Rushmere 12 mi

All towns in Virginia · 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 Carrollton (36.9406, -76.5211); 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.