Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 36.5630, -84.4464

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Tennessee. Against other Tennessee sites it stands out most in spring and fall (80th percentile) and lowest in summer (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.3 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 70th percentile (spring 94th, summer 39th, fall 43rd)
  • Tennessee: 52nd percentile (spring 80th, summer 45th, fall 80th)
  • Southwestern Appalachians: 82nd percentile (spring 91st, summer 78th, 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 May 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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), Summer-flowering shrubs; 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.