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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 27.7138, -98.1356

Estimated forage here is better than about 63% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in spring (60th percentile) and lowest in fall (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sunflower (nearest 1.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.28 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 58th percentile (spring 78th, summer 14th, fall 14th)
  • Texas: 63rd percentile (spring 60th, summer 28th, fall 17th)
  • Western Gulf Coastal Plain: 36th percentile (spring 48th, summer 29th, fall 37th)

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: Feb 1 to May 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 30 — Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 131 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 493 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sorghum: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 768 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms early Apr – early May

What the honey would be made of

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