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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 34.6707, -87.4079

Estimated forage here is better than about 100% of sites in Alabama. Against other Alabama sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (44th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 91st percentile (spring 92nd, summer 86th, fall 9th)
  • Alabama: 100th percentile (spring 85th, summer 100th, fall 44th)
  • Interior Plateau: 97th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 93rd, fall 4th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: May 1 to Jul 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 643 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late May – late Jun
  • Corn: about 3,140 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Corn: about 229 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 110 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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