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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 34.5590, -87.4148

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in spring (98th percentile) and lowest in fall (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.1 mi W. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 96th, summer 56th, fall 16th)
  • Alabama: 95th percentile (spring 98th, summer 94th, fall 62nd)
  • Interior Plateau: 80th percentile (spring 96th, summer 49th, fall 12th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 79 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 22 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Corn: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi S, blooms early May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Cotton, Soybeans; extra 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, Soybeans, 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.
  • 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.