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 29.0391, -98.5695

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Texas. Against other Texas sites it stands out most in spring (88th percentile) and lowest in fall (24th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.8 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.5 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 90th, summer 29th, fall 21st)
  • Texas: 95th percentile (spring 88th, summer 67th, fall 24th)
  • East Central Texas Plains: 68th percentile (spring 38th, summer 50th, fall 21st)

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 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: May 16 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Sorghum: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Corn: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Sorghum: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Sorghum: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms late Apr – late May

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); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Garden flowers; 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.
  • 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.