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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 40.4659, -86.1278

Estimated forage here is better than about 10% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in summer (14th). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 1.4 mi SW, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 1.6 mi E, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), 0.34 mi SW. 1 thing to watch (below).

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 77th, summer 76th, fall 67th)
  • Indiana: 10th percentile (spring 75th, summer 14th, fall 98th)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 2nd percentile (spring 84th, summer 6th, fall 98th)

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

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Apr 1 to Aug 15 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Sep 1 to Sep 15 — Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,165 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.4 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 126 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 624 acres in a typical year, nearest 2.1 mi W, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 166 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 98 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi SW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 60 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.6 mi E, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Lindens / basswood; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Soybeans, Garden flowers, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Garden flowers, Soybeans; extra light amber

Things to watch

  • Heavily developed. About 98% of the land within a mile is developed. Less room for forage, and more neighbors near the 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.