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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.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

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 33.6745, -86.8085

Estimated forage here is better than about 79% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in fall (97th percentile) and lowest in summer (71st). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi E.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 89th, summer 27th, fall 45th)
  • Alabama: 79th percentile (spring 80th, summer 71st, fall 97th)
  • Southwestern Appalachians: 79th percentile (spring 66th, summer 55th, fall 86th)

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), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to May 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); 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.