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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 38.6290, -97.6119

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Kansas. Against other Kansas sites it stands out most in summer (91st percentile) and lowest in fall (16th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 44th, summer 92nd, fall 21st)
  • Kansas: 85th percentile (spring 33rd, summer 91st, fall 16th)
  • Central Great Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 39th, summer 89th, fall 23rd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 621 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 489 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 170 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 35 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 479 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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