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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 38.4175, -90.6786

Estimated forage here is better than about 10% of sites in Missouri. Against other Missouri sites it stands out most in fall (75th percentile) and lowest in summer (11th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 2.0 mi N); corn (nearest 2.2 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 53rd percentile (spring 80th, summer 38th, fall 57th)
  • Missouri: 10th percentile (spring 54th, summer 11th, fall 75th)
  • Ozark Highlands: 22nd percentile (spring 26th, summer 27th, fall 62nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 15 — Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 370 acres in a typical year, nearest 2 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 214 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 64 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi SE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 42 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.5 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.9 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 77 acres in a typical year, nearest 3 mi N, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering shrubs, Dandelion; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.