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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 26.1347, -98.0473

Estimated forage here is better than about 94% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in spring (81st percentile) and lowest in fall (29th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); sorghum (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, 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: 83rd percentile (spring 87th, summer 35th, fall 25th)
  • Texas: 94th percentile (spring 81st, summer 79th, fall 29th)
  • Western Gulf Coastal Plain: 83rd percentile (spring 72nd, summer 86th, fall 50th)

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 1 to Jun 30 — Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 221 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sorghum: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Mar – late May
  • Corn: about 28 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers; 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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.