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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 35.0200, -90.7317

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Arkansas. Against other Arkansas sites it stands out most in summer (75th percentile) and lowest in spring (45th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi E, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.5 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.6 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi NW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 64th, fall 41st)
  • Arkansas: 60th percentile (spring 45th, summer 75th, fall 72nd)
  • Mississippi Valley Loess Plains: 48th percentile (spring 45th, summer 64th, fall 93rd)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 387 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 104 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms early May – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 2,541 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Cotton: about 135 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Corn: about 133 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi E, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Cotton: about 152 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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