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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 35.2178, -99.5045

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Oklahoma. Against other Oklahoma sites it ranks highest in spring (46th percentile) and lowest in fall (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.22 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 44th percentile (spring 69th, summer 38th, fall 41st)
  • Oklahoma: 36th percentile (spring 46th, summer 34th, fall 30th)
  • Central Great Plains: 33rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 24th, fall 39th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Cotton, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Sorghum: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Sorghum: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Sorghum: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Sorghum: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms late May – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Cotton, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Cotton, Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.