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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 36.9071, -89.4524

Estimated forage here is better than about 98% of sites in Missouri. Against other Missouri sites it stands out most in summer (96th percentile) and lowest in fall (4th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); cotton (nearest 0.4 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: pond, lake or river, 0.65 mi NE. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 99th percentile (spring 66th, summer 98th, fall 9th)
  • Missouri: 98th percentile (spring 25th, summer 96th, fall 4th)
  • Mississippi Alluvial Plain: 86th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 97th, fall 43rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Jul 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 5,338 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 5,334 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Corn: about 3,562 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Jul
  • Soybeans: about 1,127 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,345 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

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