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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 39.7730, -98.7834

Estimated forage here is better than about 75% of sites in Kansas. Against other Kansas sites it stands out most in summer (81st percentile) and lowest in fall (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.1 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.1 mi SE, grown 2 of the last 5 years); sorghum (nearest 0.2 mi S, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: open water, 0.24 mi NE.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 82nd percentile (spring 56th, summer 88th, fall 44th)
  • Kansas: 75th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 81st, fall 41st)
  • Central Great Plains: 85th percentile (spring 63rd, summer 81st, fall 42nd)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 16 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Main flow: Jun 1 to Aug 15 — Soybeans
  • Season ends: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 264 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 995 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi N, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 201 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 377 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 212 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi E, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 288 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Soybeans, Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

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.