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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 35.9256, -89.7978

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Arkansas. Against other Arkansas sites it stands out most in summer (100th percentile) and lowest in fall (27th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); cotton (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.18 mi S. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 84th, summer 97th, fall 15th)
  • Arkansas: 98th percentile (spring 49th, summer 100th, fall 27th)
  • Mississippi Alluvial Plain: 92nd percentile (spring 42nd, summer 96th, fall 55th)

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

Season

  • First forage: May 1 — Soybeans
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 18,396 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 80 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 54 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms late May – late Jun
  • Cotton: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

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