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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 36.1459, -85.9411

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in fall (36th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi SW, grown 1 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: 78th percentile (spring 96th, summer 51st, fall 26th)
  • Tennessee: 70th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 61st, fall 36th)
  • Interior Plateau: 63rd percentile (spring 94th, summer 43rd, fall 33rd)

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 Jun 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 16 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 9 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, 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 trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Soybeans; 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, 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.