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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 38.4337, -85.1693

Estimated forage here is better than about 81% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in fall (62nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.27 mi SW.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 84th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 78th, fall 39th)
  • Kentucky: 81st percentile (spring 76th, summer 78th, fall 62nd)
  • Interior Plateau: 84th percentile (spring 64th, summer 83rd, fall 67th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 246 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 72 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 143 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 251 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Alfalfa; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Alfalfa; 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.