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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.

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 39.5029, -87.2267

Estimated forage here is better than about 30% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in spring (86th percentile) and lowest in summer (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (right here, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 3 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.11 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 86th percentile (spring 86th, summer 83rd, fall 31st)
  • Indiana: 30th percentile (spring 86th, summer 22nd, fall 66th)
  • Interior River Valleys and Hills: 34th percentile (spring 89th, summer 24th, fall 62nd)

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 Aug 15 — Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden)
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 760 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 155 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 805 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 202 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 53 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 574 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • 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.