What's flowering for honey bees near Saint John, KS (South-Central Kansas Wheatbelt / Arkansas River Lowlands (Sedgwick-Stafford county area, transition zone between Flint Hills tallgrass prairie and Great Bend Prairie)), month by month — 38 local nectar and pollen sources.
Open the interactive, printable calendar →← More Kansas bee forage calendars
| Plant | Scientific name | Category | Bloom months | Forage value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Maple | Acer saccharinum | Trees | Feb–Mar | medium |
| Black Willow | Salix nigra | Trees | Mar–Apr | high |
| American Elm | Ulmus americana | Trees | Mar | low |
| Eastern Cottonwood | Populus deltoides | Trees | Mar | medium |
| Common Dandelion | Taraxacum officinale | Wildflowers & Weeds | Mar–May | medium |
| Henbit | Lamium amplexicaule | Wildflowers & Weeds | Mar–Apr | medium |
| Field Pennycress | Thlaspi arvense | Wildflowers & Weeds | Mar–Apr | low |
| Eastern Redbud | Cercis canadensis | Trees | Apr | medium |
| Hackberry | Celtis occidentalis | Trees | Apr | low |
| Wild Plum | Prunus americana | Shrubs & Vines | Apr | high |
| Chokecherry | Prunus virginiana | Shrubs & Vines | Apr–May | medium |
| Sand Plum | Prunus angustifolia | Shrubs & Vines | Apr | high |
| Black Medic | Medicago lupulina | Clover & Legumes | Apr–Aug | low |
| Wild Mustard | Brassica spp. | Wildflowers & Weeds | Apr–May | medium |
| Osage Orange | Maclura pomifera | Trees | May | low |
| Black Locust | Robinia pseudoacacia | Trees | May | high |
| Wild Grape | Vitis riparia | Shrubs & Vines | May–Jun | low |
| Roughleaf Dogwood | Cornus drummondii | Shrubs & Vines | May–Jun | medium |
| Yellow Sweetclover | Melilotus officinalis | Clover & Legumes | May–Aug | high |
| White Dutch Clover | Trifolium repens | Clover & Legumes | May–Jul | high |
| Red Clover | Trifolium pratense | Clover & Legumes | May–Aug | medium |
| Curly Dock | Rumex crispus | Wildflowers & Weeds | May–Jun | low |
| Chinaberry/Catalpa | Catalpa speciosa | Trees | Jun | medium |
| Buttonbush | Cephalanthus occidentalis | Shrubs & Vines | Jun–Jul | medium |
| Virginia Creeper | Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Shrubs & Vines | Jun–Jul | low |
| Smooth Sumac | Rhus glabra | Shrubs & Vines | Jun–Jul | medium |
| White Sweetclover | Melilotus albus | Clover & Legumes | Jun–Sep | high |
| Alfalfa | Medicago sativa | Clover & Legumes | Jun–Sep | high |
| Purple Prairie Clover | Dalea purpurea | Clover & Legumes | Jun–Aug | medium |
| Illinois Bundleflower | Desmanthus illinoensis | Clover & Legumes | Jun–Jul | low |
| Common Milkweed | Asclepias syriaca | Wildflowers & Weeds | Jun–Jul | medium |
| Wild Sunflower | Helianthus annuus | Wildflowers & Weeds | Jul–Sep | high |
| Sweet Clover Volunteer/Yellow Star Thistle-like Snow-on-the-Mountain | Euphorbia marginata | Wildflowers & Weeds | Jul–Sep | low |
| Ironweed | Vernonia baldwinii | Wildflowers & Weeds | Jul–Aug | medium |
| Western Ragweed | Ambrosia psilostachya | Wildflowers & Weeds | Aug–Sep | low |
| Canada Goldenrod | Solidago canadensis | Wildflowers & Weeds | Aug–Oct | high |
| Heath Aster | Symphyotrichum ericoides | Wildflowers & Weeds | Sep–Oct | high |
| Maximilian Sunflower | Helianthus maximiliani | Wildflowers & Weeds | Sep–Oct | medium |
A bee forage bloom calendar shows which nectar and pollen plants are blooming in a given area, month by month, so beekeepers can plan colony buildup, splits, and honey harvests around the local bloom.
Every calendar starts with your zip code's specific growing region — its climate, elevation, and local ecology. From there, we use AI trained on horticultural and beekeeping knowledge to work out which nectar and pollen plants actually grow there and when they typically bloom, the same kind of judgment call an experienced local beekeeping mentor or extension agent would make, just automated so any US zip code can get a calendar in minutes instead of years of local observation. Each calendar typically covers 25-40 plants across trees, shrubs and vines, clover and legumes, and wildflowers, plus the area's named honey flows. We keep the exact generation process under wraps, but the goal is always the same: real, locally-grounded bloom timing instead of generic national averages.
The region-specific bloom timing, honey flows, and beekeeping notes are produced by an AI system drawing on general horticultural, ecological, and beekeeping knowledge, applied to your area's specific climate and geography — rather than looked up from a single official bloom-timing database, since no such nationwide dataset exists at this level of local detail.
A nectar dearth (or dearth period) is a stretch of the year when little or no medium-to-high value forage is blooming. Colonies may need supplemental feeding during a dearth to avoid starvation or robbing behavior.
A honey flow (or nectar flow) is a period when nectar is abundant enough for a colony to produce surplus honey beyond what it needs to survive, often tied to a specific major regional bloom like clover or black locust.
Bloom timing is generated from regional climate and ecology data and is intended as a general planning reference. It may not perfectly match a specific microclimate, so it's worth cross-checking against your own field observations.
Yes. Enter any US zip code to get a free, printable bee forage bloom calendar — no signup required.