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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 40.4190, -86.2747

Estimated forage here is better than about 77% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (70th percentile) and lowest in spring and summer (59th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 2 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.2 mi W, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.6 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 95th percentile (spring 60th, summer 94th, fall 34th)
  • Indiana: 77th percentile (spring 59th, summer 59th, fall 70th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 62nd percentile (spring 68th, summer 46th, fall 73rd)

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: Sep 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 11,725 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 9,186 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi W, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Corn: about 303 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi SE, blooms early Jul – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 91 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 83 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.4 mi N, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 57 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – 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): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, 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

  • 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.