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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 39.5456, -91.1716

Estimated forage here is better than about 38% of sites in Missouri. Spring, summer and fall all rank about the same against other Missouri sites. Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi NE, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 80th, summer 75th, fall 48th)
  • Missouri: 38th percentile (spring 54th, summer 48th, fall 50th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 14th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 16th, fall 88th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 2,568 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 361 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 45 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,348 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 252 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 29 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber

Things to watch

  • 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.