Arcadia Bees
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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 38.6781, -87.5095

Estimated forage here is better than about 30% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in spring (92nd percentile) and lowest in summer (19th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 1.1 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 1.1 mi E, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.22 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 90th, summer 80th, fall 52nd)
  • Indiana: 30th percentile (spring 92nd, summer 19th, fall 90th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 33rd percentile (spring 94th, summer 21st, fall 94th)

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
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 1,630 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 118 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 724 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 233 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 139 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,412 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 91% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.