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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 38.5032, -86.0150

Estimated forage here is better than about 19% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in spring (82nd percentile) and lowest in summer (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi SW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); popcorn and ornamental corn (nearest 0.4 mi E, 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: 81st percentile (spring 83rd, summer 80th, fall 38th)
  • Indiana: 19th percentile (spring 82nd, summer 19th, fall 74th)
  • Interior Plateau: 76th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 84th, fall 64th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 168 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 202 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi SW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 40 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 56 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 69 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.5 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, 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): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Garden flowers, Dandelion; light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra 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.