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 35.9056, -84.8847

Estimated forage here is better than about 43% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in fall (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (48th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.0 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.12 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 90th, summer 42nd, fall 43rd)
  • Tennessee: 43rd percentile (spring 56th, summer 48th, fall 80th)
  • Southwestern Appalachians: 73rd percentile (spring 72nd, summer 82nd, fall 78th)

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 16 to Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 4 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.2 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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