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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 39.4975, -86.0511

Estimated forage here is better than about 42% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (94th percentile) and lowest in summer (31st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 2 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: 88th percentile (spring 78th, summer 88th, fall 58th)
  • Indiana: 42nd percentile (spring 76th, summer 31st, fall 94th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 21st percentile (spring 84th, summer 17th, fall 93rd)

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 Aug 15 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,155 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 279 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 2,880 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 180 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.6 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul

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, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers; 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 81% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the hives.
  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

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.