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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 36.8812, -88.7649

Estimated forage here is better than about 95% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (92nd percentile) and lowest in fall (9th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); rapeseed (nearest 1.0 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.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 93rd percentile (spring 76th, summer 91st, fall 8th)
  • Kentucky: 95th percentile (spring 14th, summer 92nd, fall 9th)
  • Mississippi Valley Loess Plains: 85th percentile (spring 26th, summer 88th, fall 37th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,348 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 897 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 3,814 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,998 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 993 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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