Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

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 26.0350, -97.6364

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in spring (76th percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); chickpeas (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.2 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 85th, summer 29th, fall 25th)
  • Texas: 88th percentile (spring 76th, summer 69th, fall 29th)
  • Western Gulf Coastal Plain: 71st percentile (spring 66th, summer 75th, fall 51st)

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: Jan 16 to May 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 30 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 670 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 217 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sorghum: about 502 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 1,383 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 20 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 114 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; 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), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; 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.

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.