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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 38.9483, -85.8893

Estimated forage here is better than about 52% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (90th percentile) and lowest in summer (33rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 3 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: 90th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 88th, fall 52nd)
  • Indiana: 52nd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 33rd, fall 90th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 30th percentile (spring 89th, summer 19th, fall 89th)

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 4,408 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,574 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 138 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 312 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 150 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 564 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi NW, 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, Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 78% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.