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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 35.6590, -88.8393

Estimated forage here is better than about 77% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (66th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.5 mi W, grown 4 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 1.9 mi SW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.9 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 80th percentile (spring 96th, summer 56th, fall 40th)
  • Tennessee: 77th percentile (spring 91st, summer 66th, fall 72nd)
  • Mississippi Valley Loess Plains: 58th percentile (spring 91st, summer 60th, fall 91st)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 21 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 92% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.