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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 38.4915, -85.4723

Estimated forage here is better than about 36% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (52nd percentile) and lowest in spring (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.8 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 63rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 57th, fall 23rd)
  • Kentucky: 36th percentile (spring 22nd, summer 52nd, fall 30th)
  • Interior Plateau: 20th percentile (spring 19th, summer 49th, fall 26th)

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: Mar 16 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 142 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 58 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 82 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Corn: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 92 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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