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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 35.4717, -97.1811

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Oklahoma. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Oklahoma sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.5 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 2.3 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 72nd percentile (spring 87th, summer 48th, fall 71st)
  • Oklahoma: 78th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 73rd, fall 68th)
  • Cross Timbers: 81st percentile (spring 71st, summer 94th, fall 69th)

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), Native wildflowers
  • Main flow: Feb 16 to Jun 15 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 33 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Alfalfa: about 142 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 2 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Alfalfa: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul

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, Native wildflowers; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; 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.