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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.

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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 37.6579, -85.5912

Estimated forage here is better than about 76% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (83rd percentile) and lowest in spring (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 76th, summer 83rd, fall 21st)
  • Kentucky: 76th percentile (spring 14th, summer 83rd, fall 28th)
  • Interior Plateau: 78th percentile (spring 9th, summer 89th, fall 22nd)

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: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 606 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 374 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 730 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 256 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); 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, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.