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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 40.0213, -98.0599

Estimated forage here is better than about 78% of sites in Nebraska. Against other Nebraska sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (34th). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.4 mi S, grown 4 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.7 mi SW). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.23 mi W.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 87th percentile (spring 67th, summer 88th, fall 54th)
  • Nebraska: 78th percentile (spring 99th, summer 67th, fall 34th)
  • Central Great Plains: 91st percentile (spring 80th, summer 83rd, fall 54th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Aug 15 — Soybeans, Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 680 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 559 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi N, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 321 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi SW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 857 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.1 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Soybeans: about 173 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.8 mi S, blooms early Jun – early Aug
  • Corn: about 2,683 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul

What the honey would be made of

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

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.