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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 31.8237, -87.3168

Estimated forage here is better than about 33% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it ranks highest in summer (38th percentile) and lowest in fall (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.8 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.6 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.5 mi W, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 38th percentile (spring 68th, summer 15th, fall 3rd)
  • Alabama: 33rd percentile (spring 29th, summer 38th, fall 22nd)
  • Southeastern Plains: 21st percentile (spring 29th, summer 26th, fall 17th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to May 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 205 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 148 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Cotton: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 121 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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