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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 36.0038, -86.2020

Estimated forage here is better than about 47% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.8 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); millet (nearest 1.4 mi NE, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.36 mi SE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 68th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 37th, fall 31st)
  • Tennessee: 47th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 41st, fall 48th)
  • Interior Plateau: 31st percentile (spring 73rd, summer 22nd, fall 44th)

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 May 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 3.1 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 18 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi S, blooms late May – late 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), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra 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.