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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 34.9841, -87.1565

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Alabama. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Alabama sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.3 mi S). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.17 mi E. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 49th, fall 34th)
  • Alabama: 88th percentile (spring 90th, summer 92nd, fall 89th)
  • Interior Plateau: 55th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 40th, fall 53rd)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 163 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Soybeans: about 159 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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