Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

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 39.1253, -97.6988

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Kansas. Against other Kansas sites it stands out most in spring and summer (83rd percentile) and lowest in fall (35th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.4 mi E, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.9 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 88th percentile (spring 70th, summer 89th, fall 39th)
  • Kansas: 85th percentile (spring 83rd, summer 83rd, fall 35th)
  • Central Great Plains: 92nd percentile (spring 83rd, summer 83rd, fall 38th)

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 99 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 374 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 795 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Sorghum: about 100 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 412 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

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

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.