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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 38.8131, -86.6501

Estimated forage here is better than about 17% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in spring (91st percentile) and lowest in summer (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 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: 80th percentile (spring 89th, summer 75th, fall 38th)
  • Indiana: 17th percentile (spring 91st, summer 14th, fall 74th)
  • Interior Plateau: 72nd percentile (spring 49th, summer 77th, fall 62nd)

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)
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 112 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 186 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 76 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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