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 26.2396, -98.5511
Estimated forage here is better than about 61% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in fall (55th percentile) and lowest in summer (26th). Expect a dearth from early Oct to late Nov. Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 0.4 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).
Ranking
- Continental US: 57th percentile (spring 64th, summer 13th, fall 44th)
- Texas: 61st percentile (spring 37th, summer 26th, fall 55th)
- Southern Texas Plains: 94th percentile (spring 90th, summer 93rd, fall 91st)
Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Texas, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.
Season
- First forage: Jan 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
- Main flow: Jan 1 to May 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering shrubs
- Dearth: Jul 16 to Jul 31
- Dearth: Oct 1 to Nov 30
- Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 15 — Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
- Season ends: Dec 31
Bee crops nearby
- Sorghum: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
- Corn: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
- Cotton: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul
- Cotton: about 392 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul
- Sorghum: about 55 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NW, blooms early Apr – early May
- Cotton: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late May – early Jul
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Summer-flowering shrubs, Sunflower; extra light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Rabbitbrush, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); amber
- Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.