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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 39.1210, -98.7964

Estimated forage here is better than about 50% of sites in Kansas. Against other Kansas sites it stands out most in summer (61st percentile) and lowest in spring (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: sorghum (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.18 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 59th percentile (spring 45th, summer 79th, fall 47th)
  • Kansas: 50th percentile (spring 35th, summer 61st, fall 44th)
  • Central Great Plains: 64th percentile (spring 40th, summer 70th, fall 45th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Sorghum: about 356 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 129 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Sorghum: about 65 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Sorghum: about 153 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.