Honey bee forage in Mercer, Tennessee

When is the honey flow in Mercer?

• First forage: Feb 1 (early trees (maple, willow, poplar), dandelion, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard))
• Main flow: May 16 to Jul 15, peaking late May (soybeans)
• Season ends: Aug 31

Forage available to a colony through the year at the center of Mercer, from what grows within flight range (about 3.7 miles) and when it blooms here. Dates are the model's estimate for a typical year; the spring index for this spot falls on Mar 27.

What the honey is made of

• Spring honey (March to June): soybeans, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red, early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid
• Summer honey (July and August): soybeans, cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Fall honey (September to November): fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), cotton, garden flowers; light amber, likely to set within weeks to a few months
• Whole season (March to November): soybeans, cotton, roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber, mixed: part of it sets quickly, part stays liquid

Nectar-source estimate (plants weighted by how much bees favor them), not a pollen analysis. Full honey estimate.

Bee crops within flight range

• Soybeans: about 2,102 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early May – late Jul (grown 4 of the last 5 years)
• Corn: about 85 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late May – late Jun (grown 1 of the last 5 years)
• Cotton: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug (grown 2 of the last 5 years)

From USDA's crop maps for 2021–2025; fields rotate, so a crop counts by how often it was grown. Listing a field says nothing about its owner.

The land and water around Mercer

Mostly: East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest; Southeastern Native Ruderal Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest.

Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river 0.06 mi W; open water 0.09 mi SW.

Things to watch

• Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Cotton: insecticides used on about 39% of surveyed US acres (2025). 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.

How Mercer ranks

Percentiles among 3,000 random land points in each region, scored the same way: land in general, not beekeepers' apiaries.

About 47% of the land here is scored with national averages for its vegetation type rather than measured plant cover, so the wild-plant part of this estimate is rougher than the crop part.

Nearby

Toone 9 mi · Medon 10 mi · Whiteville 12 mi · Brownsville 15 mi · Bolivar 15 mi · Dancyville 15 mi

All towns in Tennessee · National map · How the scoring works

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. The point is the Census Bureau's published center of Mercer (35.4745, -89.0394); a yard a mile or two away can differ, so check your own spot. The FEMA flood map was not checked for this page. Benchmark 2026.5, built 2026-10-19. How this works · All sources.