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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 38.8745, -87.0864

Estimated forage here is better than about 69% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (63rd percentile) and lowest in summer (53rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.3 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.3 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); watermelons (nearest 0.5 mi S, 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. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 94th percentile (spring 64th, summer 93rd, fall 28th)
  • Indiana: 69th percentile (spring 62nd, summer 53rd, fall 63rd)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 75th percentile (spring 57th, summer 63rd, fall 59th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 7,208 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi W, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 2,166 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,719 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 4,407 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 245 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,081 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Bee crops nearby that are often sprayed. Watermelons: insecticides used on about 38% of surveyed US acres (2024). Figures are from USDA's Agricultural Chemical Use Survey, matched by crop type from the crop map. The survey counts any insecticide use in the crop year (not seed treatments) and doesn't say when; ask nearby growers about spray timing.
  • 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.