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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 35.0134, -85.8038

Estimated forage here is better than about 25% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in fall (95th percentile) and lowest in summer (5th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 2.6 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.1 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 3.1 mi SE, 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. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 55th percentile (spring 88th, summer 15th, fall 49th)
  • Tennessee: 25th percentile (spring 44th, summer 5th, fall 95th)
  • Southwestern Appalachians: 50th percentile (spring 59th, summer 20th, fall 95th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Jan 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to May 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Spring-flowering shrubs
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 26 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.7 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Canola: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi SE, blooms late Apr – early Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Spring-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.