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.
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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 37.2782, -85.3037
Estimated forage here is better than about 0% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it ranks highest in fall (33rd percentile) and lowest in summer (1st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.6 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.8 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away.
Ranking
- Continental US: 19th percentile (spring 59th, summer 15th, fall 24th)
- Kentucky: 0th percentile (spring 4th, summer 1st, fall 33rd)
- Interior Plateau: 0th percentile (spring 1st, summer 1st, fall 28th)
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)
- Main flow: Mar 1 to May 31 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
- Season ends: Oct 31
Bee crops nearby
- Soybeans: about 71 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
- Corn: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
- Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
- Soybeans: about 43 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.2 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
- Corn: about 90 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
- Soybeans: about 174 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
What the honey would be made of
- Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
- Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
- Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
- Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); 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.