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 27.6801, -99.2024

Estimated forage here is better than about 5% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it ranks highest in fall (39th percentile) and lowest in spring and summer (3rd). Expect a dearth from early May to late Sep. Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 7th percentile (spring 21st, summer 2nd, fall 34th)
  • Texas: 5th percentile (spring 3rd, summer 3rd, fall 39th)
  • Southern Texas Plains: 34th percentile (spring 25th, summer 34th, fall 59th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Texas, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Native wildflowers, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jan 16 to Mar 31 — Native wildflowers, Spring-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Dearth: May 1 to Sep 30
  • Fall flow: Apr 16 to Apr 30 — Native wildflowers, Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Dec 31

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spring-flowering shrubs, Summer-flowering shrubs; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Rabbitbrush, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Spotted and diffuse knapweed; dark amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Rabbitbrush, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); dark amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Rabbitbrush, Native wildflowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Spring-flowering shrubs; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) 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.