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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 38.4957, -85.7599

Estimated forage here is better than about 49% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in spring (87th percentile) and lowest in summer (30th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, 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: 90th percentile (spring 86th, summer 87th, fall 18th)
  • Indiana: 49th percentile (spring 87th, summer 30th, fall 43rd)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 27th percentile (spring 91st, summer 16th, fall 46th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: May 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 335 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 192 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 194 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 254 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 412 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NW, blooms late May – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 38 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late May – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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