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 36.8360, -83.8423

Estimated forage here is better than about 49% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi E, 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: 70th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 44th, fall 38th)
  • Kentucky: 49th percentile (spring 86th, summer 41st, fall 60th)
  • Central Appalachians: 97th percentile (spring 95th, summer 80th, fall 21st)

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 16 to May 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Fall flow: Jun 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 17 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 6 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early 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), Garden flowers; 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; 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.