Spring 2026 has turned out to have a slim prospect for a honey harvest. As we touch to the Summer Solstice – usually we are readying equipment for extracting honey. We have had moisture this spring… and it’s been very warm as well – yet we have yet to touch triple-digits in North Texas. So – where did the honey go?
In March – we had a decent flow of nectar for a few weeks – but it seems to be a trickle since then. Honeybee hives across Denton, Collin, Hunt, Kaufman, Dallas, and Rockwall counties – for the most part – have shown disappointing amounts of honey and open nectar this last few months. I say “for the most part” because there are a scant couple of locations that have had some honey stored and capped after it was evaporated (or cured) to the consistency of honey.
That goes to show that beekeeping production is very much on a “micro-environment” level for individual ability to have enough forage to store. Overall, however, the region (specifically – the entire SE – non-coastal plains regions of the US have had low honey production as an overall theme this year.
Rex and Laura say that at least one major factor is available forage. Many areas outlying the DFW MetroMess are being turned into neighborhoods. Fields of flowers are being mowed while in full bloom of forage/flowers. HOWERVER – Even in areas where the bees DO have fields of flowers – the food also seems scarce this year. Why?
A search on line yielded this for environmental factors this spring: I personally feel that items #2, #3, and #4 are HUGE factors this year.
Low honey production across North Texas this spring boils down to a perfect storm of severe long-term agricultural drought, unseasonably high temperatures, and a resulting lack of nectar flow.
When weather conditions suppress the region’s usual spring flora, it directly impacts what the bees can bring back to the hive. The primary environmental factors that stalled production this spring include:
1. Intensified Agricultural Drought
The drought gripping North Texas began in August 2025 and intensified significantly through the winter and early spring of 2026. Topsoil and subsoil moisture levels across northern Texas dropped below the 10th percentile. Without adequate ground moisture, key spring forage plants—such as sweet clover, vetch, and regional wildflowers—either failed to bloom abundantly or lacked the resources to produce harvestable nectar.
2. High “Thirst of the Atmosphere” (Evaporative Demand)
Texas experienced its 7th warmest April on record, with temperatures averaging $5.0^\circ\text{F}$ above normal. This heat triggered a high Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI). Essentially, the atmospheric demand for moisture was so high that it rapidly dried out the landscape. Even in areas that received spotty, near-normal rainfall, the high evaporative rate caused plants to withhold or cease nectar secretion entirely to conserve their own water.
3. Accelerated Winter Store Depletion
Unseasonably warm spikes during the late winter and early spring kept colonies highly active when they would normally be tightly clustered or semi-dormant. This increased flight activity meant worker bees were burning through their remaining winter honey stores at an accelerated rate looking for a nectar flow that hadn’t started yet. Instead of entering the spring with strong reserves and building an immediate surplus, many colonies had to rely heavily on supplemental feeding just to sustain brood rearing.
4. Delayed and Weakened Nectar Flows
Because a successful honey flow requires a delicate balance of timely rainfall followed by warm, humid days, the extreme dry-and-hot cycle completely disrupted the classic spring timeline. The early major flows—which beekeepers typically rely on by late April and May—were either short-lived or non-existent, forcing bees to consume what little they gathered just to maintain the colony’s daily nutritional needs.
This is long… and I hope you’re still here reading. All we can do – is all we can do. When there’s not enough food in nature, we (collectively) property owners and beekeepers may need to feed the bees. What can YOU – as a nature-enthusiast or property owner / host for bees – do to help?
STOP MOWING THE FLOWERS IN BLOOM
Really nothing more to add to that statement….
PLANT PLANTS THAT SUPPORT THE POLLINATORS
We have some favorites that are good food sources for the bees (and ALL pollinators) in North Texas. Remember, though – a garden bed of flowers is insufficient for feeding even a colony of bees. Fields and fields are what they need. It takes 2 MILLION flowers to produce a single pound of honey. Bees regular forage range is about 3 miles radius – or 18,000 Acres. Over-seed your fields (open space 1-D-1 Ag Valuation areas) with a rolling bloom of things that can feed the bees –
- Plant Forage Plants once – that bloom and re-seed every year
- Lowers supplemental feed costs (sugar, protein patties)
- Healthier Colonies that are more resiliant
Low ground covers:
- FrogFruit
- Dutch White Clover
- Crimson Red Clover
- Creeping Thyme
- Phlox
Taller flowers
- Phacelia
- Bee Balm / Horsemint / Monarda
- Borage
- Sweet / Field Clover (tall)
- Buckwheat
- Comfrey
- Sunflower
- Aster
- Rosemary and Lavender
Shrubs / Trees
- Vitex
- Linden / Basswood
- Mexican Buckeye
- American Soapberry
- Chinese Tallow
- Mimosa
- Button Bush (wet areas)
- Privet / Ligustrum
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