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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 35.6151, -85.1936

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in spring (75th percentile) and lowest in fall (49th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi S.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 78th percentile (spring 94th, summer 63rd, fall 32nd)
  • Tennessee: 70th percentile (spring 75th, summer 74th, fall 49th)
  • Southwestern Appalachians: 94th percentile (spring 88th, summer 98th, fall 41st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 66 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 70 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 12 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 13 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.