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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 32.4313, -86.6598

Estimated forage here is better than about 77% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in summer (77th percentile) and lowest in fall (39th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.7 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 66th percentile (spring 85th, summer 31st, fall 7th)
  • Alabama: 77th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 77th, fall 39th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 71st percentile (spring 74th, summer 62nd, fall 35th)

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, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Feb 1 to May 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jul 15 — Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 148 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms late Apr – late Jun
  • Corn: about 206 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early May – early Jun
  • Cotton: about 106 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 153 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi SW, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jun

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), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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, Cotton, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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.