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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.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

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 35.6752, -90.5273

Estimated forage here is better than about 93% of sites in Arkansas. Against other Arkansas sites it stands out most in summer (89th percentile) and lowest in fall (70th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.8 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.2 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.28 mi S. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 97th percentile (spring 95th, summer 89th, fall 40th)
  • Arkansas: 93rd percentile (spring 81st, summer 89th, fall 70th)
  • Mississippi Alluvial Plain: 74th percentile (spring 65th, summer 70th, fall 78th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 15 — Cotton
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,754 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 5,713 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi W, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 2,632 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NE, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 208 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi SW, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 880 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 623 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early May – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Soybeans, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Cotton, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 66% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • 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.

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.