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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 36.3865, -90.1995

Estimated forage here is better than about 82% of sites in Arkansas. Against other Arkansas sites it stands out most in spring (90th percentile) and lowest in fall (73rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.7 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.9 mi S); corn (nearest 1.0 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.13 mi E. 3 things to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 97th, summer 75th, fall 42nd)
  • Arkansas: 82nd percentile (spring 90th, summer 77th, fall 73rd)
  • Mississippi Valley Loess Plains: 75th percentile (spring 96th, summer 70th, fall 93rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 1 to Jul 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Aug 1 to Aug 31 — Cotton, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,210 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Cotton: about 4,870 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 969 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Cotton: about 342 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms early Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 1,075 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 841 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Cotton, Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Cotton, Garden flowers, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Cotton; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 61% 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.
  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.