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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 37.2166, -86.6996

Estimated forage here is better than about 70% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in spring (83rd percentile) and lowest in fall (37th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 93rd, summer 68th, fall 26th)
  • Kentucky: 70th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 66th, fall 37th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 19th percentile (spring 96th, summer 11th, fall 55th)

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 Jul 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 864 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 530 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 354 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 67 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra 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): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion; 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.