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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 36.8356, -85.5038

Estimated forage here is better than about 39% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in spring (72nd percentile) and lowest in summer (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sweet corn (nearest 1.0 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 91st, summer 37th, fall 34th)
  • Kentucky: 39th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 34th, fall 49th)
  • Interior Plateau: 24th percentile (spring 60th, summer 22nd, fall 51st)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to May 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jun 30 — Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 7 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Sweet Corn: insecticides used on about 44% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.

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.