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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 38.9802, -84.8266

Estimated forage here is better than about 51% of sites in Kentucky. Against other Kentucky sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in spring (6th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 71st percentile (spring 64th, summer 79th, fall 26th)
  • Kentucky: 51st percentile (spring 6th, summer 78th, fall 37th)
  • Interior Plateau: 41st percentile (spring 3rd, summer 83rd, fall 34th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 468 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 95 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 319 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 31 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 505 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); 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.