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 33.0802, -86.1305

Estimated forage here is better than about 35% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it ranks highest in spring (47th percentile) and lowest in summer (30th). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 39th percentile (spring 75th, summer 12th, fall 7th)
  • Alabama: 35th percentile (spring 47th, summer 30th, fall 39th)
  • Piedmont: 21st percentile (spring 27th, summer 6th, fall 38th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to May 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Aug 15

What the honey would be made of

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

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.