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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 36.8165, -87.1614

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (13th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 92nd percentile (spring 86th, summer 89th, fall 13th)
  • Kentucky: 93rd percentile (spring 40th, summer 89th, fall 13th)
  • Interior Plateau: 98th percentile (spring 34th, summer 96th, fall 7th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 3,365 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 387 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 231 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 122 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 491 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.