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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 27.5082, -97.8610

Estimated forage here is better than about 87% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in summer (73rd percentile) and lowest in fall (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 1.1 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.1 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.5 mi W. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 75th, summer 32nd, fall 37th)
  • Texas: 87th percentile (spring 53rd, summer 73rd, fall 44th)
  • Western Gulf Coastal Plain: 69th percentile (spring 44th, summer 81st, fall 61st)

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
  • Main flow: Jan 16 to Apr 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: May 1 to Jun 30 — Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 285 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 243 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sorghum: about 421 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 274 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi N, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 150 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SE, blooms early Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 91% 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.
  • 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.