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 31.1244, -83.4276

Estimated forage here is better than about 90% of sites in Georgia. Against other Georgia sites it stands out most in summer (83rd percentile) and lowest in spring (55th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.0 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.5 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.1 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi NE. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 75th, summer 38th, fall 22nd)
  • Georgia: 90th percentile (spring 55th, summer 83rd, fall 75th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 77th percentile (spring 48th, summer 70th, fall 77th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to Apr 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jul 15 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Dec 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 134 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms late Apr – late May
  • Cotton: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 64 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 142 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 84 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 66% 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.
  • 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.