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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 39.6406, -85.5789

Estimated forage here is better than about 85% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in summer (68th percentile) and lowest in fall (43rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.4 mi SE, 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: 96th percentile (spring 54th, summer 96th, fall 17th)
  • Indiana: 85th percentile (spring 54th, summer 68th, fall 43rd)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 72nd percentile (spring 60th, summer 55th, fall 46th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Aug 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 6,621 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 6,808 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 6,969 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 6,249 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 30 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 32 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

Things to watch

  • Near a FEMA high-risk flood zone. A mapped high-risk flood zone (A) 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.