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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 40.5072, -86.8546

Estimated forage here is better than about 29% of sites in Indiana. Against other Indiana sites it stands out most in fall (93rd percentile) and lowest in summer (22nd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.2 mi NE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.5 mi SE, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 1.0 mi SE, grown 3 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: 85th percentile (spring 85th, summer 83rd, fall 56th)
  • Indiana: 29th percentile (spring 85th, summer 22nd, fall 93rd)
  • Eastern Corn Belt Plains: 10th percentile (spring 90th, summer 11th, fall 91st)

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

Season

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

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 1,690 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 1,809 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Soybeans: about 290 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug
  • Corn: about 446 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.9 mi NW, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Corn: about 1,568 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi NE, blooms late Jun – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SE, blooms early Jun – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

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