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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 36.3538, -89.8161

Estimated forage here is better than about 99% of sites in Missouri. Against other Missouri sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in fall (20th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years); cotton (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 81st, summer 98th, fall 26th)
  • Missouri: 99th percentile (spring 56th, summer 96th, fall 20th)
  • Mississippi Alluvial Plain: 93rd percentile (spring 38th, summer 97th, fall 68th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 21,236 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 743 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SW, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 89 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi W, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Cotton: about 1,603 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • 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, Dandelion, 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.