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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 37.8171, -87.2402

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in spring (1st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); watermelons (nearest 1.6 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.27 mi N. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 98th percentile (spring 50th, summer 98th, fall 4th)
  • Kentucky: 99th percentile (spring 1st, summer 100th, fall 3rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 98th percentile (spring 38th, summer 92nd, fall 3rd)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Kentucky, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 11,286 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 8,346 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 454 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 483 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.8 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.