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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.

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 26.3805, -98.8213

Estimated forage here is better than about 57% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in fall (51st percentile) and lowest in spring (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.21 mi S. 3 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 55th percentile (spring 61st, summer 18th, fall 42nd)
  • Texas: 57th percentile (spring 34th, summer 36th, fall 51st)
  • Southern Texas Plains: 93rd percentile (spring 87th, summer 97th, fall 87th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sunflower: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Mar – late May
  • Sorghum: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sunflower: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Mar – late May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 67% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.