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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

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The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 25.8702, -97.3812

Estimated forage here is better than about 96% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in spring (95th percentile) and lowest in fall (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.9 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 94th, summer 34th, fall 19th)
  • Texas: 96th percentile (spring 95th, summer 77th, fall 22nd)
  • Western Gulf Coastal Plain: 88th percentile (spring 95th, summer 85th, fall 44th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Texas, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to May 31 — Cotton, Sunflower, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jun 30 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 598 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 377 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sunflower: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late Mar – late May
  • Sunflower: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms late Mar – late May
  • Corn: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 136 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Sunflower, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Sunflower, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber

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.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.