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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 27.8732, -97.9802

Estimated forage here is better than about 89% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in spring (75th percentile) and lowest in fall (17th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.8 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.23 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 84th, summer 18th, fall 14th)
  • Texas: 89th percentile (spring 75th, summer 34th, fall 17th)
  • Western Gulf Coastal Plain: 73rd percentile (spring 65th, summer 39th, 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
  • Main flow: Jan 1 to Apr 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: May 16 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Cotton, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 514 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Sorghum: about 702 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 155 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms late May – early Jul
  • Sorghum: about 799 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi S, blooms early Apr – early May
  • Cotton: about 141 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms late May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.