Honey bee forage in Megargel, Alabama

When is the honey flow in Megargel?

• First forage: Jan 1 (dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: Feb 16 to Jul 31, peaking early May (cotton, soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Season ends: Aug 15

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Megargel, 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 Feb 27.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): cotton, soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): cotton; 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, soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months

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 1,139 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early May – late May (grown 2 of the last 5 years)
• Soybeans: about 181 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Apr – 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 Megargel

Mostly: Southeastern North American Temperate Forest Plantation; Southeastern Native Ruderal Forest; Southeastern Ruderal Grassland.

Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow 0.37 mi S; mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer) 0.53 mi SW.

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 Megargel ranks

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

About 51% 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

Frisco City 5 mi · Excel 6 mi · Uriah 6 mi · Monroeville 11 mi · Repton 12 mi · Peterman 17 mi

All towns in Alabama · 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 Megargel (31.3781, -87.4306); 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.