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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 37.4887, -87.5054

Estimated forage here is better than about 88% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in spring and fall (12th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); canola (nearest 1.4 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.15 mi NW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 73rd, summer 89th, fall 12th)
  • Kentucky: 88th percentile (spring 12th, summer 89th, fall 12th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 48th percentile (spring 71st, summer 40th, fall 20th)

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: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,411 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,448 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,362 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 117 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,522 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early 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.