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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 35.7944, -83.2471

Estimated forage here is better than about 26% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in fall (52nd percentile) and lowest in summer (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.5 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 55th percentile (spring 89th, summer 25th, fall 34th)
  • Tennessee: 26th percentile (spring 51st, summer 19th, fall 52nd)
  • Blue Ridge: 49th percentile (spring 59th, summer 43rd, fall 20th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to May 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.