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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 34.5989, -87.0793

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in summer (97th percentile) and lowest in fall (81st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 83rd percentile (spring 94th, summer 68th, fall 27th)
  • Alabama: 95th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 97th, fall 81st)
  • Interior Plateau: 81st percentile (spring 80th, summer 67th, fall 34th)

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 Jul 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 417 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Corn: about 197 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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