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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 34.8907, -90.7931

Estimated forage here is better than about 84% of sites in Arkansas. Against other Arkansas sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in fall (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: cotton (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 89th percentile (spring 70th, summer 89th, fall 6th)
  • Arkansas: 84th percentile (spring 20th, summer 91st, fall 14th)
  • Mississippi Alluvial Plain: 52nd percentile (spring 27th, summer 73rd, fall 36th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: May 16 to Aug 31 — Cotton, Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Cotton: about 6,284 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,354 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 531 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 1,090 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Corn: about 103 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jun

What the honey would be made of

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

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.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.