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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 30.3975, -87.6698

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in fall (88th percentile) and lowest in spring (77th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.24 mi N. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 88th, summer 33rd, fall 34th)
  • Alabama: 93rd percentile (spring 77th, summer 79th, fall 88th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 89th percentile (spring 78th, summer 64th, fall 89th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Apr 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: May 16 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Corn: about 144 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Soybeans: about 159 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SE, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Apr – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, 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, Soybeans; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 62% 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.

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.