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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 39.2680, -86.2973

Estimated forage here is better than about 3% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (89th percentile) and lowest in summer (5th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.3 mi E, 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: 62nd percentile (spring 83rd, summer 51st, fall 50th)
  • Indiana: 3rd percentile (spring 82nd, summer 5th, fall 89th)
  • Interior Plateau: 20th percentile (spring 23rd, summer 43rd, fall 96th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Feb 16 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 15 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Fall flow: Jul 1 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Summer-flowering shrubs, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster)
  • Season ends: Oct 31

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 51 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 25 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 49 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 11 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 10 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 3 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Summer-flowering shrubs, Clovers: white, alsike and red; light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Dandelion; light amber

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A, AE) is within about 300 m. Check FEMA's map for the exact spot.

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.