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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 36.2403, -90.0476

Estimated forage here is better than about 92% of sites in Missouri. Against other Missouri sites it stands out most in spring (93rd percentile) and lowest in fall (52nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.1 mi NW, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.26 mi SE. 2 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 96th percentile (spring 96th, summer 88th, fall 49th)
  • Missouri: 92nd percentile (spring 93rd, summer 68th, fall 52nd)
  • Mississippi Alluvial Plain: 72nd percentile (spring 66th, summer 66th, fall 84th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Missouri, 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 31 — Soybeans, Cotton
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,619 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 3,571 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 2,808 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 36 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 197 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi N, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Soybeans: about 8 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late 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, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Cotton, Garden flowers; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Cotton, Dandelion; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 89% 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.
  • 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.