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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 38.8266, -98.4768

Estimated forage here is better than about 55% of sites in Kansas. Against other Kansas sites it stands out most in spring (79th percentile) and lowest in summer (46th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 1 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi N, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.21 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 64th percentile (spring 65th, summer 73rd, fall 50th)
  • Kansas: 55th percentile (spring 79th, summer 46th, fall 48th)
  • Central Great Plains: 69th percentile (spring 77th, summer 62nd, fall 49th)

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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Jul 31 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 173 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 52 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Sorghum: about 68 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Sorghum: about 78 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Sorghum: about 70 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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