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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 36.9646, -89.0808

Estimated forage here is better than about 64% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (67th percentile) and lowest in fall (42nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 2 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: 77th percentile (spring 88th, summer 69th, fall 30th)
  • Kentucky: 64th percentile (spring 54th, summer 67th, fall 42nd)
  • Mississippi Valley Loess Plains: 51st percentile (spring 61st, summer 67th, fall 81st)

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 Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 933 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,491 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 73 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 14 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 676 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; 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, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); 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.