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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 40.5170, -94.6133

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Missouri. Against other Missouri sites it stands out most in summer (78th percentile) and lowest in spring (23rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi S, grown 2 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: 91st percentile (spring 63rd, summer 91st, fall 52nd)
  • Missouri: 78th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 78th, fall 61st)
  • Western Corn Belt Plains: 37th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 17th, fall 70th)

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: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,527 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 904 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 270 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 75 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 159 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 325 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) 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.