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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.

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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 31.1812, -85.2801

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in summer (82nd percentile) and lowest in spring (28th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 53rd percentile (spring 68th, summer 34th, fall 5th)
  • Alabama: 60th percentile (spring 28th, summer 82nd, fall 29th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 49th percentile (spring 28th, summer 67th, fall 25th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to May 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 39 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 260 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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