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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 32.6718, -86.4643

Estimated forage here is better than about 65% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in spring (74th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 1.7 mi SE); soybeans (nearest 3.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 3.7 mi NE, grown 3 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: 57th percentile (spring 86th, summer 21st, fall 5th)
  • Alabama: 65th percentile (spring 74th, summer 59th, fall 30th)
  • Southeastern Plains: 56th percentile (spring 75th, summer 44th, fall 26th)

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), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jun 1 to Jun 30 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 74 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 427 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug
  • Cotton: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs; white
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Cotton, Dandelion; 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), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.